Till Death Do Us Part
by Ambivalence
Summary: Jou and Kaiba find themselves in a Domino City without people. As they search for clues, they realize that in order to survive and reunite with their loved ones, they are going to have to work together, bringing them closer together than ever before. SxJ
1. Chapter 1

**Till Death Do Us Part**

**Warnings**: Infrequent cussing; eventual yaoi/slash/BL

**Pairings**: Kaiba/Jounouchi

**Disclaimer**: Nothing in the Yu-gi-oh universe belongs to me - I'm just borrowing the characters for some fun!

Chapter 1: Jounouchi's Shadows

Katsuya's breath rose in frozen puffs as grey as the world around him. The sun was hidden by a film of low, dark clouds, and what little light managed break through was weak and gave no hint of warmth. Shadows filled the empty street, flitting here and there and causing a chill to creep along his spine.

_Where am I?_

His gaze swept warily over the lifeless street and buildings, recognition sparking at the sight of familiar shops and carefully tended yards. He hadn't seen this place since the day he and his father had moved away, shortly after being abandoned by his mother and sister. Now here he was, back where there were so many bittersweet memories, and he could not for the life of him figure out how or why. Goosebumps prickled his skin as he turned his head and realized that he had yet to spot so much as a stray cat or pigeon, much less another human being. It was surreal, but when he pinched himself, the smarting pain told him that he wasn't dreaming. He took a hesitant step forward. The crunch of gravel under his shoe was almost painfully loud against the quiet of the seemingly deserted city.

"H-hello?" he called out tentatively. When no answer came, he bit his lip in concern.

Domino had always been a bustling city and he could not recall a time when he'd been alone on the streets. There had always been someone in sight going about their business. Katsuya tried to remember what had happened before this moment. He was startled to find no recollection whatsoever of travelling to this spot, or even what he'd been doing before he had arrived. Frowning with concentration, he tried desperately to work it out, but there was only a gaping black hole in his memories, as though a hand had reached into his head and torn out a large chunk of the recent past. Things from weeks ago remained clear – hanging out with his friends; the stupid arguments he'd had with his dad when he visited to check on him; the seemingly endless hours of work at his three part-time jobs – but everything that had happened within the last few days was just… gone. A sliver of panic began to worm its way into his emotions, so he focused harder. He mentally fought to grasp something – anything—that could explain how he'd ended up on his own like this.

"_Ah_…!" Katsuya gasped and doubled over, one hand going to clutch his throbbing forehead. All he'd received for his efforts was a terrible, overwhelming pain that left him feeling as though he'd just physically smashed into a brick wall. Spitting out a few choice expletives, he pushed aside the sudden pounding in his head.

"What the hell is goin' on?" he shouted in desperation. "Hello? Somebody'd better fuckin' answer me!" Katsuya spun around, searching frantically for some sign that he was not utterly alone. There was nothing. No one, and no sound but his own unnerved gasps for air. "_Answer me_!"

''er me… 'er me…' his echo taunted back, the only reply to his frustrated shriek.

"Dammit," he whispered, rubbing his arm briskly against the chill. He was at a complete loss.

'-ser me… answer me… answer me!'

Katsuya twitched, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as the same echo, instead of fading as it ought to have, only grew louder and clearer.

'Answer me! Answer me!'

"What the-?" Taking a nervous step back, Katsuya attempted to locate the source of the eerie noise, but it seemed to be all around him. Growing more alarmed by the second, he continued to walk backward with small steps until he felt a solid wall press up against his back. The rough bricks dug sharply into his skin, but he felt slightly better knowing nothing could sneak up behind him now.

'ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME!' The echoing, hollow voice had become thunderous. The very air seemed to vibrate with the words, and Katsuya whined a little in distress. 'ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME! ANS-'

"Shut up! Just stop it already!" The shout of panic ripped its way out of Katsuya's throat before he could help it and immediately, as though a switch had been flicked, the echo cut off into blessed silence. Gasping and shivering, he tried to slow down his racing heart. What the hell was that? It couldn't have been normal. It was just downright freaky.

For a while, he continued to huddle against the side of the building, his imagination running wild with thoughts of ghosts and demons; however, when all remained still, he cautiously stepped out onto the street again. Looking left and right, he muttered to himself, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." At least Dorothy had had her yappy dog with her. What he wouldn't give to have someone with him right now – a human, a dog, even a freaking bunny rabbit would be a comfort.

Katsuya puffed a sigh and wondered what to do next. Somehow, he hoped that Yugi and the others were working to fix this mess. Past experiences with unexplainable, weird events had nearly always been connected with Yugi's puzzle and the other Sennen items in one way or another. Of course, normally he was with his friends during those times, fighting or solving the mystery together. To be on his own now gave Katsuya the uneasy sense that his current predicament was of an entirely different nature. Besides, all of the spooky, magical stuff was supposed to have ended once Atemu had crossed over.

A shadow suddenly flickered at the very edge of his periphery. Katsuya whipped around in that direction but saw nothing different. Anxiously he opened his mouth but thought better of shouting out as he remembered The Echo. Instead, he turned on his heel and began to walk briskly in the opposite direction. He'd seen enough horror movies in his time to know that one should never go over to investigate strange noises or disturbances. That was always what screwed over the characters. Anyway, he couldn't very well stay in this neighbourhood forever. There was a chance that he would find people elsewhere and that it was only this area that was affected by… well, whatever was going on.

But nothing changed while he continued down the street. The houses and other buildings appeared vacant and not a single vehicle passed by. It was like walking through a ghost town, which only served to creep him out more. Every so often, another flash of shadowy movement, always from the corner of his eye, caused him to veer away in another direction. After awhile of this, he began to get the uncomfortable notion that the shadows were herding him someplace – or trying to distract him from his path – but he tried to shake it off as paranoia.

He wasn't sure how long he'd walked for, but he was just starting to question the logic of this aimless wandering when a large, decrepit building emerged out of the gloom ahead of him. It was two stories high and surrounded by a black iron fence. Katsuya slowed as he neared the structure. It seemed like some sort of small school, and although he was not immediately familiar with it, he nevertheless felt drawn to the entrance. There was something about the place…

Upon reaching the rusted gate, he spotted a grimy, bronze plaque to the side. Curious, he leaned in to read it. The lettering was faded but after wiping away some of the grime, he was able to make out the last word: Orphanage. He glanced past the sign, over the gate, to take another look at the place. Well, it did look the part – although, the faded clapboard siding and the leafless trees in a weedy front yard showed that it was abandoned, and had been for awhile. Katsuya frowned, wondering why the place struck a chord with him.

Pondering the mystery, he passed through the entrance without thinking and meandered towards the corner of the orphanage where the visible edge of a teeter-totter hinted at a playground. When he rounded the corner, he raised his gaze from the ground, only to stop short. In shock, he rubbed at his eyes and gaped at the unexpected figure sitting idly on a swing set.

"Kai… Kaiba?" Katsuya yelped, instantly forgetting to keep his voice down. Fortunately, The Echo remained dormant for the time being.

The brown-haired man in question looked up and familiar, icy blue eyes fixed on Katsuya. "Oh. It's you."

"What do you mean by that, huh?" he griped, but at the same time excitedly ran over to join the other. Sure, it was Kaiba Seto – the stuck-up moneybags – but he was also the first sign of life Katsuya had come across in the past hour or so. And besides, no matter what Katsuya thought of him otherwise, if anyone had the brains to solve the 'Mystery of the Disappearing Citizens' it would be Kaiba, and Katsuya intended to be with him when he did.

He'd never pegged Kaiba as the type to hang out in children's playgrounds, though. Falling onto the second of the pair of swings, Katsuya kicked off and grinned as he swung back and forth, causing the old contraption to squeal noisily in protest. "Hey, I haven't been on one of these things in years! You were in an orphanage as a kid, weren't ya? Is this the one? If you're here, then Yug' and Honda and the rest must be around, right? I'll bet Yugi'll have us out of here in no time. Ya think we're in the Shadow Realm? It's a lot different than I remember, but s'pretty spooky, don'cha think?" He tended to ramble when nervous, but it didn't take him long to realize that Kaiba was not paying any mind. Great… he was being ignored.

Dragging his feet on the ground to brake the movement, Katsuya finally peered closely at Kaiba. The taller man was staring straight ahead, his expression impossible to read; but there was an almost haunted quality to his eyes. Unsure, Katsuya prompted, "Kaiba?"

He was actually startled when Kaiba spoke without looking at him. "This place…"

"Er, yeah. Freaky, ain't it? Once we find Yug', though, I'm sure everything will be sorted out." Strangely enough, he seemed to be trying to reassure Kaiba, although he couldn't quite fathom why that would be.

Kaiba's gaze flickered to the side so that their eyes met. "How did you find me here?"

"Oh, uh…" Good question. "I, er, followed the yellow brick road?"

One thin, brown eyebrow twitched up in a 'what the hell are you talking about' kind of way. Maybe Kaiba had never watched that old movie, which seemed a little sad. Katsuya sighed and peered down at the red sand at his feet. "Dunno. I just wandered here. I didn't even know this place existed 'til I stumbled across it. 'Just a coincidence."

"There are no coincidences," Kaiba said darkly and stood up from the swing, stepping away. Without so much as a glance back, he started toward the front gate, leaving a surprised Katsuya gawking at his back.

"H-hey! Wait!" Katsuya shouted, scrambling from his seat and jogging after the other's retreating form. "We should stick together," he said as he caught up at the corner of the building. "Something strange is going on."

"Nervous, mutt?" Kaiba smirked.

Katsuya gave him a sidelong glance. "You're not?" Considering everything he'd experienced since finding himself inexplicably in his old neighbourhood – the empty city, The Echo, freaky shadows – Katsuya thought it was only natural not to be feeling completely self-assured at the moment. In fact, it was a wonder he wasn't having some kind of nervous breakdown yet.

Kaiba ignored the question and continued walking, his long strides making it a bit difficult for Katsuya to comfortably keep up; but, as they were going in the direction of Kame Gameshop, he didn't find it worth complaining about. The echo of their footsteps on the pavement was the only sound, and even that was strangely muffled in the heavy, grey air. Uninhabited homes and small stores bleakly lined both sides of the streets like ghostly mourners at a cemetery.

Every few minutes or so, Katsuya again sensed the swift, darting motions of shadows at the edge of his sight, but no matter how quickly he turned his head he was unable to catch their source. Unnerved, he quickened his pace and drew closer to Kaiba even though he knew better than to rely on the unsympathetic CEO for support. In an attempt to distract himself, he endeavoured to initiate a conversation. "So, I woke up on the street where I used to live as a kid. Well, I dunno if 'woke up' is quite right… I kinda just found myself standing there. It's crazy 'cause I can't understand what I was doing there of all places. Was it the same for you? Is that why you were at your old orphanage?"

"I do not recall how I came to be there, but I'm sure there is some logical explanation," Kaiba muttered, glaring straight ahead in a manner that suggested he, too, was trying to ignore the creepy shadows on either side.

"Sleepwalking?" Katsuya helpfully suggested.

"No, it would be too much of a coincidence that we were both sleepwalking at the same time, and as I said before – "

"There are no coincidences. Yeah, yeah."

Kaiba didn't respond, probably miffed by the interruption, but Katsuya was not about to give up. "Hey, do you, uh… remember anything?"

They were nearing the game shop, only a few more blocks away, but Kaiba slowed his frantic march a little to look sideways at Katsuya. His closed expression relented somewhat into a small frown. "You can't…?"

"No. Nothing recent anyway. It's like there's this giant gap where everything used to be, and when I try to remember, it hurts like hell, so I can't… uh…" Katsuya grimaced in frustration, unable to clearly describe what he was going through. He was worried that there was something wrong with him. A loss of memory meant something bad had happened, some kind of trauma, but he had no idea what. If Kaiba wasn't experiencing the same thing, then…

"About equal to being hit by a _Burst Stream of Destruction._" Kaiba nodded sharply with a considering look. "Whatever happened, it has affected our minds."

Katsuya let out a discrete sigh of relief. Thank goodness he wasn't alone in this.

"There it is," Kaiba pointed out as the game shop came in to view. "But judging by what we've seen so far, I think it's highly unlikely there will be anybody there."

"Yugi'll be there," Katsuya stated faithfully. "And Gramps. They'll help us."

With a sceptical hum, Kaiba led them to the shop door, which they found locked and hung with a 'closed' sign. Kaiba raised an almost smug eyebrow at Katsuya, who shrugged and headed for the rear entrance that connected to the house instead. With the CEO standing stiffly behind him, Katsuya pressed the doorbell and waited. There were none of the familiar sounds of someone rushing to the door or shouting that they'd be right there. It seemed as though Kaiba might be right.

He rang the bell again and folded his arms in a perturbed manner. "Er… Maybe he's in the shower?"

He heard Kaiba snort and begin to say something, but then the door swung open without warning to reveal not Yugi, but Yugi's darker half, Atemu. It was a shock, to say the least. The last time Katsuya had seen the Pharaoh was as he'd disappeared through the gates of the spirit world, his final resting place. He was not supposed to be here. He _couldn't_ be here. And yet the shorter man in front of him with memorable spiky hair, narrow ruby-red eyes and decidedly proud stance was most definitely not Yugi.

"Ah, hello Jounouchi!" Atemu greeted him with a confident grin, as though he was expecting the visit.

Katsuya was at a loss for words, too overwhelmed to know how to react. The Pharaoh, one of his best friends, had returned, even though they'd been told so many times by Ishizu that it would never be possible to see him again in this life. Ever.

"What is going on?" Kaiba snapped from behind.

Atemu did not seem to hear him, however, or was skilfully ignoring him. "Come in. Yugi's upstairs waiting for you."

"H-he… he is?" Katsuya finally managed to choke out. _Impossible-impossible-impossible_, his mind kept repeating. "But… why…?

"Come in," he said again, this time taking Katsuya by the wrist. Startled, Katsuya jumped a little at the smooth, cool touch, but didn't pull away. "Yugi is in his room. He would like to speak with you. Will you follow me?"

I _must_ be dreaming, Katsuya thought faintly as he nodded and stepped across the threshold. He barely took notice of Kaiba following close behind and Atemu had yet to mention the other's presence. It really did feel like a dream, and yet at the same time it was so real that Katsuya wanted to pull Atemu to him and cry.

"Something is not right here," he heard Kaiba mutter, but Katsuya was too focused on his old friend's smile to care.

"A-are you really Atemu?" he asked, completely enthralled as the shorter man tugged him up the stairs.

The ancient Pharaoh cocked his head and laughed lightly like Katsuya had just said something deeply amusing. "Of course, Jou. Who else would I be? Now hurry up. You don't want to keep Yugi waiting any longer, do you?"

"Waiting? But…" He stumbled on the last step and barely managed to keep his feet under him while Atemu pulled him towards the door Katsuya knew opened into Yugi's bedroom. He'd been here many times and knew the place like it was his own, but still he was not prepared for the sight that met him when they walked in. While Yugi loved games and toys and owned a large collection of them, he'd always kept his room painstakingly neat and tidy with everything organized properly on shelves. Now, it was as though a toy factory had exploded inside. Hundreds of games, stuffed toys, action figures and other things littered the floor and bed, leaving no space uncovered. They were piled high and left the room unrecognizable. Katsuya could only gape from the doorway, too stunned to immediately notice the room's sole occupant.

"Jounouchi-kun?" the soft voice called from among the piles upon piles of toys.

"Yug'?" Katsuya finally spotted the brightly coloured hair poking up in the center of the room. "This… What the heck happened here? Where'd all this come from?"

"What are you talking about? Don't just stand there, come play with me!" Even though Yugi smiled widely and his bright, amethyst eyes sparkled, there seemed to be something off about him. It gave Katsuya a pause.

Trying to figure out what was different, aside from the messy room, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"What's the matter? I thought you came all this way to see me." Yugi blinked, his smile wavering ever so slightly. "You're not going to leave already, are you?"

"Wha-? No, I…" Hopelessly bewildered but not wanting to show it and make his friend upset, Katsuya slowly walked into the room and began to make his way forward through the clutter. It was nearly impossible to avoid stepping on things, but he did his best to clear a small space with his foot each time before putting it down. Halfway, he hesitated and glanced back to see if Kaiba was following; however, the other man was not behind him anymore, nor in the doorway. Disconcerted, Katsuya turned back to find Yugi still watching him with that strange smile.

"Jou-kun?"

"Oh, uh, coming. It's just difficult to… Why's your room such a mess?" He took care to step over some kind of brightly painted wooden puzzle he couldn't recall Yugi ever owning.

"Mess?" The smiling teenager, who looked more of a young boy than ever right now, glanced around. "My toys?"

"Duh," Katsuya grunted, taking the last leap across a small wall of plushies. Shaking his head, he crouched down in front of Yugi, praying that his friend would have some answers for them. "Look, Yug', maybe you haven't noticed, but there's something weird going on and I was hoping you could help. I just came from my old street, but I can't remember how I got there. There's nobody around, and I mean nobody. Everyone's disappeared! Then there's…"

"I'm sorry."

Halted in mid-sentence, Katsuya needed a moment to register the apology. He blinked, opened his mouth again to ask why, and then couldn't when he caught the expression on his friend's face. The smile had vanished and his large eyes had filled with so much sorrow that Katsuya felt his own heart clench.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, reaching out to take one of Katsuya's hands in his. "I can't help you."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Katsuya gulped. He needed his best friend to be with him right now but Yugi was acting so unlike himself. "Why can't you?"

"Well, it's impossible for me to know anything more than you do. But Jou-kun, even if you haven't acknowledged it yet, you _know _something is searching for you and Kaiba-kun. It's going to find you and take you away for good if you're not careful."

Katsuya frowned, trying to make sense of this. He felt it was important, especially because it came from Yugi, whom he would trust with his life. "I don't get it. What's searching for us?"

"I can't tell you that, either. But please remember to trust your heart, not your eyes. And never give up hope. If you can do that until the end, I think you will be okay. And stay with Kaiba-kun. If you become separated, you'll be lost for sure. It'll take both of you to get through this." Yugi raised their joined hands and placed Katsuya's knuckles against his cheek. "I miss you."

"But…"

"I miss you. I miss you. I –" Yugi's tearful eyes suddenly widened and then quickly darkened.

In horror, Katsuya watched the life rapidly drain from them. A glittering, silver knife point, stained crimson, stuck out from between the boy's ribs. In slow motion, he registered the knife and the blank look and then allowed his gaze to drift up to meet the ruby-red eyes of the Pharaoh who stood behind Yugi, his hand still resting on the hilt of the weapon.

"Y-Y-Yug… Wh-wh…" Words stuck in Katsuya's throat.

The spirit of the Pharaoh stared unblinkingly for a long moment and then nodded once before disappearing back to wherever he'd come from. Numb with shock and unable to fully comprehend what had just happened, Katsuya looked back down at the body in his arms. The knife was still there and Yugi was undeniably dead.

"N-no…" Katsuya moaned lowly. Hot sticky warmth flowed over his hands. "Oh shit, oh… Y-Yugi, no…"

Shaking, he could do nothing but kneel there and watch the blood seep out of the wound. It felt real. Too real. The bright red stain grew and grew, dripping down to the floor where it began to pool. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't save Yugi. There was nothing…

"_Jou-ge-a-now-Jouno-!"_ A noise penetrated his frantic thoughts, but at first it was like the buzzing of a fly. He was too busy falling apart to care.

"Yug'. Yugi. Sorry, oh god, so sorry. I c-can't… Yugi…"

The blood kept coming. It never stopped and never slowed. Katsuya, too caught up in shock and grief, hardly noticed as it pooled around him. Only vaguely could he feel the warmth of it soaking through his clothes and washing against his skin.

"_Jounouchi! Jounouchi, listen to me! Get out!_"

The faint yelling finally caught some of his attention. Sniffing and still hugging the body tightly, Katsuya turned his head to stare blankly at the doorway where a figure stood with raised fists.

"You have to get out! You idiot, look! The blood!"

"K-Kaiba?"

_Blood_. Katsuya didn't want to look, but his eyes were drawn downward against his will. There was so much of it – a sea of red that kept rising. It was up to his waist, the hot wetness having completely enveloped his folded legs. Seeing this, the shock subsided somewhat to be replaced by terror and revulsion. He gasped and tried to stand, but the viscosity of the fluid was oddly high and stubbornly held him in place.

"I can't move! I can't! H-help me!" Panicking, he let go of Yugi and flailed desperately in Kaiba's direction.

"I am unable to enter. I've tried. You have to come to me. Just calm down and…"

"Calm down?" Katsuya screeched, nearly hyperventilating. "I'm gonna fuckin' drown in… in… this! I… Help!"

Kaiba shook his head and placed one hand flat against what appeared to be an invisible wall. "It is not far, Jounouchi. You can make it. Just breathe and slow down. Fighting it won't help."

Terrified, he let Kaiba's calm, confident voice wash over him and tried his best to follow the instructions.

_Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in…_

Trying not to let the panic take control, he slowly pushed himself to his feet. The horrible stuff was frighteningly difficult to pull out from, but eventually he found himself standing upright.

"Okay. Good. Now walk towards me. You're not that far." Kaiba continued to speak in soothing tones that Katsuya had never heard from him before. In fact, it sounded nothing like the cold-hearted jerk that Kaiba usually acted. Now it was as though Kaiba cared enough to try to save him from this nightmare. Katsuya grasped onto this one thought and used it as a lifeline to maintain his sanity.

_Just have to make it to Kaiba and I'll be okay._

Taking one painfully slow step at a time, his feet being sucked under with a disgusting squelch each time he put them down, Katsuya nevertheless began to cross the room. His mind was blank. He refused to think about what had happened and whose blood this was.

"Do not look around. Keep your eyes on me. You're almost there, Jounouchi."

He was nearly up to his thighs in the stuff. How the hell could there be so much of it? Surely it couldn't all be…

_Don't think about it. Don't think. Kaiba. Gotta get to Kaiba._

And then, finally, he managed to struggle the last few inches so that he could reach out through the open door. The moment his hand broke through, Kaiba grabbed it and jerked him the rest of the way in. Shivering, gasping, Katsuya fell against the other and clung desperately. "Y-Yug… he… b-blood…" Choking on sudden tears, he felt the taller man's arms come around to help hold him up.

"_Get out! Listen to me—"_

"_No, I'm not leaving you!"_

"_You idiot! Shit, just get out of here before—"_

"_No. NO!"_

The short fragment of memory slammed into him unexpectedly. Above him, he heard an echoing gasp and Kaiba's arms tensed. Even more shaken and with pain exploding in his head, Katsuya began sobbing. "Yugi! Yugi, I'm s-sorry! Y-Yugi! C-come back, Yug'!" On the verge of hysteria, he whimpered his best friend's name over and over. Atemu and the knife and the blood… It was too much, just too much for him to handle. His mind shut down and a pair of slim but solid arms was the only thing that supported him as he lost consciousness.

**_To be continued..._**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey there! I think it's about time I posted another story, don't you? I've been working on an off (mostly off...) on this for a long while, so it's pretty much finished except for some of the epilogue - which means you won't have to wait for months at a time between chapters. Great, huh? I am editing each chapter before posting, though, so expect the next one up in a week or so. I don't think this story will be quite as long as 'Inescapable You', but it's still fairly lengthy. Yeah, it's another Jounouchi and Kaiba "stuck" together type story (I guess I just like to focus on those two haha), but this one is a bit more of a... Mystery? Suspense?** **Something like that. It's a strange start, but bear with me and let me know what you think! I always love to hear your opinions.**

**Also, to avoid confusion with names:** The first name of the POV character is used in the main narration ('Katsuya' in this chapter, and 'Seto' next), while the last name of the non-POV character is used ('Kaiba' in this chapter, 'Jounouchi' in the next). Why did I choose to do it this way? Mostly because I feel they would refer to themselves by their first name, and other people by their last names (unless they're closer friends). Hopefully I've remained consistent.


	2. Chapter 2

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 2: Kaiba's Undoing

"_Get out! Listen to me—"_

"_No, I'm not leaving you!"_

"_You idiot! Shit, just get out of here before—"_

"_No. NO!"_

The shard of memory, if that was what it had been, had only created more questions. There had been no context or mention of anything specific – only two voices, presumably belonging to Jounouchi and himself, arguing as usual, only with a terrified and desperate tone. Clenching his teeth against a pounding headache brought on by trying to force his brain to impart more details than it was willing to give, Seto shoved away from the table and stood up to pace. It could be an important memory and if he could recall more, then it might help him understand how he had come to be wandering in a deserted city with only Jounouchi Katsuya as a companion.

Pausing in the center of the room, Seto turned his head to glare at the unconscious twenty-year-old sprawled on a bench seat in a nearby booth. Of all the people to be stuck with right now, it just had to be the one who couldn't be relied on to find his way out of a paper bag, much less this maddening alternate reality. If only the idiot would wake up and explain what in the world had just occurred in the game shop where he'd almost given Seto a heart attack. When Jounouchi had come out of that bedroom crying Yugi's name repeatedly, Seto concluded that they must not have witnessed the same thing because he was certain he had not seen a single soul in that house aside from Jounouchi; which, of course, made just as little sense as everything else he'd experienced in the past few hours.

At least nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the little café he'd chosen as their hideout, aside from the lack of employees or customers. It was only six or seven blocks from the game shop, but with Jounouchi's weight on his back, Seto had decided it was better than collapsing in the middle of the open street. It had a door and a lock, which at least gave some small sense of security against whatever was outside. The interior was fairly typical – polished tables set in an orderly fashion around the dining area with booths against the windows and walls. At the far side, there was a counter with barstools, and a door behind it leading to the back room. One of the first things Seto had done was check behind the swinging door, but the back room had been as empty as the rest of the establishment.

Muttering a curse, Seto resumed pacing until a soft groan interrupted his thoughts. When he looked over to see Jounouchi peering blearily around the shop, Seto crossed his arms and glared scathingly until the wide, brown eyes finally landed on him and stared in confusion.

"Did you sleep well?" Seto asked mockingly.

Jounouchi blinked slowly before frowning. "I was having a bad dream…" He sat up awkwardly, still staring at Seto as though unsure of what to make of his rival standing over him. In the dim light that crept in through the window shades it was difficult to discern the details of the other's facial expression, but Seto thought he could see a hint of fear.

"It… it wasn't a dream, was it?" Jounouchi quietly realized.

"No." Seto scowled, but relaxed his posture a bit to walk over and slide into the seat across from Jounouchi. "What do you remember?" No point in beating around the bush, he decided.

Jounouchi let out a shaky breath and stared down at the table, picking at the wooden surface with his fingernails. "Yug'… I was talking to Yug', and then Atemu…"

"_Him_? He's gone." And while he had come to accept and even respect the Other Yugi by the end, Seto hoped never to see him again in this life.

"I know that," Jounouchi snapped. His fingers stopped scratching and instead began tapping steadily. "Of course, I know. I was _there_, remember? But… but I _saw_ him in Yugi's house. He led us up the stairs…?"

"I saw nobody. I turned away to check the living room and kitchen while you were mumbling to yourself, and by the time I was done you were already upstairs in that bedroom."

"E-eh? But... Well, he _was_ there. And Yug', too. A-and Atemu… he put a kn-knife... I couldn't… there was blood. Yugi's…" Jounouchi trailed off, his eyes wide and pupils dilating as the memory took hold.

Sensing an impending panic-attack, Seto headed it off by snapping, "You stabbed yourself, mutt. I watched through the doorway as you picked the knife up from the floor and shoved it through your own gut. And when you escaped the room, there was not a scratch on you. We each saw something different, but I doubt either actually occurred otherwise you wouldn't be here right now. The Yugi you spoke to was not real. And stop tapping; it's irritating." He reached out and slapped Jounouchi's offending hand away from the table.

Jounouchi gaped. "Huh? But…"

"If Yugi had truly been there, I would have seen him as well." Secretly he would have preferred it if Yugi _had_ been in the bedroom as Jounouchi believed. Not only because it would have been easier to deal with the real thing rather than an irrational hallucination, but also it would have spared him the sight of the empty-eyed duelist unflinchingly sheathing a long, silver dagger into his own stomach.

_Blood poured out of the wound, pooling rapidly around Jounouchi._

_An expression of sudden anguish, terror and fear as brown eyes finally sparked with awareness._

Seto didn't think he would ever forget that dreadful scene.

"So then that must be why he…" With a thoughtful frown, Jounouchi leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Yug' said he couldn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. Makes sense if he was just a figment of my imagination, right?"

Seto nodded, hiding his surprise at the other's unexpected insight. Then he considered the other's words more carefully and asked, "You actually conversed with this 'Yugi'?"

"Uh, yeah. I wanted to know what the hell was happening to us, but he couldn't tell me. Although he did say something funny…" He closed his eyes, trying to recall the words. "He said that, um, I should trust my heart. Oh, and," he looked up again at Seto with a slight wince, "something's after us so we hafta stick together."

"Wonderful," Seto muttered, his mind already working at lightning speed. 'Yugi' had said that he could not give Jounouchi any new information, so that meant that it had really been Jounouchi giving himself that advice. He knew something about what was happening, even if it was on a subconscious level. It had to be a crucial piece of the puzzle, but where did it fit?

"Hey, Kaiba," Jounouchi said, pulling Seto from his thoughts. "What're we gonna do? We can't stay in this café forever, right? But out there it's like some… some messed up Domino City from the Twilight Zone. This is just so…"

"I will be heading to Kaiba Corp," Seto abruptly informed him, having just made the decision that moment. "You may tag along, if you wish."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks. But what's at Kaiba Corp that you think can help us?"

"Among other things, my computers and virtual reality technology." Seto slid out of the booth and automatically reached for his briefcase, only to grasp at empty air. Now that he thought about it, it had been missing ever since he'd unaccountably come to be at the orphanage. He frowned, feeling somewhat naked without the bulletproof case, and the laptop and duel cards contained within. Wondering if anything else was missing, he warily brought a hand up to his chest, and when his fingers touched the cool surface of the familiar card locket, he swallowed a sigh of relief. At least he still had a reminder of Mokuba with him.

_Mokuba. Please be safe. I swear I'll find you and get us out of this mess._

When he looked up again, he found Jounouchi staring at him with wide eyes.

"D'ya think we're trapped in the virtual reality world again? Is that why you wanna-"

"Quit yapping," Seto snapped. He stood and walked to the door, which had a window with the blind drawn. By peering through the slats, he was able to see some of the street out front. He heard Jounouchi come up beside him.

"I was just askin'. No need to bite my head off," Jounouchi was grumbling.

"If you're coming with me, I need silence and obedience from you," Seto told him seriously, although not truly expecting either to happen.

Jounouchi, unsurprisingly, ignored him. "So, you see anything out there?" he asked, using his elbow to nudge Seto aside to get a peek out the window. "Damn, it's so quiet. Maybe the Apocalypse happened and they forgot to tell us."

Now it was Seto's turn to roll his eyes – except that he was too mature to do something so childish. With one finger he hooked the back of Jounouchi's shirt collar and sharply tugged him out of the way. Paying no mind to the other's half strangled curse, he unlocked the door and swung it open, causing the little bell above it to tinkle. There was no point in lingering in this place any longer.

Chilly, damp air washed over him as he scanned both directions of the street. The low clouds let through only minimal light so that the city appeared to be stuck in perpetual dusk. Unfortunately, it severely limited the visibility, so Seto couldn't be absolutely sure that there was nothing lurking just beyond.

"Stay close," he muttered to Jounouchi and then strode resolutely down the street in the direction he knew his office tower to be. He nearly stumbled when he felt something solid press into his shoulder. Glancing sideways, Seto growled out, "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Jounouchi, who was practically huddled against Seto's side, peeked up with a shaky grin. "Hey, you said to stay close."

"I didn't mean quite…" Seto shook his head, giving it up for a lost cause, and focussed his gaze straight ahead again. "Idiot."

"'Think there're zombies around? I always figured the Apocalypse would involve a whole lot of 'em. And soul-sucking demons, of course, and-"

"I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

There was something very eerie about walking into the lobby of Kaiba Corp and finding all of the employees mysteriously absent. Kaiba Corp was _never_ empty. Even when most people had gone home for the night, there were still the security guards patrolling the building and keeping a sharp lookout for intruders. When Seto and Jounouchi walked through the large glass doors and into the lobby area, however, no one came to challenge their authority to be there.

Seto frowned at the front desk where the secretaries should have been and wished he knew who to blame for this mess. If this wasn't merely some frustrating nightmare, then it would mean that everything he'd worked so hard at all these years had just vanished in the blink of an eye. "This cannot be happening for real."

"You sure?" Jounouchi said, his voice hushed.

Seto was unable to find a satisfactory response to that, so he just turned away and headed to the end where the elevators were located. The silence of the building weighed heavily on them and even the faint echo of their shoes scuffing the tiles did little to alleviate it. There was a slight metallic smell in the air that did not belong. They approached the elevators warily.

"I hope they're running," Jounouchi whispered, as though afraid of attracting the attention of whatever might be prowling in the shadows. "I'd hate to have to climb up all those stairs."

Seto glanced up at the floor indicators above the doors. The L for lobby was lit up, so he reached out and pressed the button at the side. Fortunately, the doors glided open without hesitation. "You're in luck," he informed, leading the way into the car.

The shorter man followed, but not without a worried glance around. "Suppose it decides to stop and trap us between floors?"

"It's a machine. It does not have the capability to 'decide' anything." Seto snorted and jabbed the button for his office's floor. He wasn't about to admit that he shared a similar concern that they might become stuck halfway to the top.

Even Jounouchi was still as the contraption began its long ascent; however, their fear was unrealized and they were carried quickly and smoothly to the correct level. Two minutes later, they stepped out into an empty reception area with a corridor running off to the left and, straight ahead, the huge, mahogany doors leading to the CEO's office. There was the same metallic odour as downstairs, with a hint of… Seto's nose twitched.

_Is that antiseptic?_

"Looks like the zombies have been here too."

Seto started, then looked over his shoulder to glare. "Zombies do not exist."

Jounouchi shot him a dirty look. "Duh, I know _that_. I was joking. I'm not stupid."

"Right."

"Hey, you—"

Seto ignored the spluttering blond in favour of proceeding ahead to the doors. When he entered his office, it appeared to be just as he'd left it, at least insofar as he could recall considering his lack of recent memories. His antique, oak desk was to the left where it had always been, placed strategically to give him the advantage of having a split second to study any person walking through the door before they spotted him. Behind it was a black leather executive high back chair and windows that stretched from floor to ceiling lining the wall, which let in the somber light from outside. The air conditioner hissed softly in the background.

Seto went straight to his desktop computer after ascertaining that there was nobody, real or illusion, lurking in the corners. A moment later, soft footsteps padding across the carpet let him know that Jounouchi had followed.

"Is it working?" Jounouchi asked.

"If you would shut up for a moment, I could concentrate on starting it up." Seto glared when the other man sat on the edge of the desk.

"All ya hafta do is hit a button! Doesn't take a genius to do that. Here, let me." Jounouchi reached out before Seto could stop him and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. The monitor didn't flicker and there wasn't even so much as a murmur from the machine. Seto jabbed the button again, holding it in for a few seconds in hopes something would catch, but still the computer refused to turn on.

"Is it plugged in?"

Seto didn't reply, but began checking the power cord, cables and everything else he could think of. After a while, he had to admit that it all appeared to be in perfect working order and yet he couldn't get the infernal thing to run.

When Seto slammed a hand on the keyboard in frustration, Jounouchi hurriedly stood up and said, "I'll go check the computer on the secretary's desk." Seto was left alone to scowl at the uncooperative machine.

"Well, that one's not doing anything either," Jounouchi reported back a few minutes later.

Seto cursed and ran a hand distractedly through his hair, feeling his stress levels rising. He'd been counting on the use of the computers to gather some information about whatever it was that had landed them in this unimaginable situation. Without technology, they were just as blind and clueless as rats stuck in a maze.

With a gloomy-sounding moan, Jounouchi again perched his rear end on the desk, only this time he twisted sideways and pulled his feet up as well. Hugging his knees, he stared at Seto, who barely refrained from snapping at him to remove his dirty shoes from the polished surface. Considering the circumstances, it didn't seem all that prudent to be worrying about a few scratches and smudges on his furniture.

Finally, there was a muttered, "Now what?"

Now what, indeed. Seto shook his head and stood up from the chair. "The VR equipment is in the basement."

The other man scrambled off the desk and jogged after him. "You don't seriously think any of that will help us, do ya? I mean, if the computers aren't working, then why should anything else?"

Seto stopped, turned and pointed up in one swift motion. "What do you see?"

Jounouchi blinked and looked up. "Um, the light?"

"Correct. The lights are on. The elevator and the air conditioner are running. That means there is still electricity in this building." He didn't wait for a response, but continued through the reception area to the elevator.

"Well, I think this place ain't following the rules we're used to," Jounouchi said quietly as he joined Seto in the car. He stood facing Seto while the doors slid shut and they began their descent. "Kaiba… what do you really think is really goin' on? I'm so lost. Everybody's gone and… and… What if we never see them again? What if…"

Seto's hand shot out and covered the other's mouth before he could blurt out anything else. Frightened, golden-brown eyes widened in surprised and stared at him uncertainly. "We will see them again, so don't talk about the 'what if's.' The entire population did not just vanish and leave you and me as the only two exceptions. For the moment, the only answer that makes sense is that, despite appearances, this is not Domino City."

Seto took back his hand but kept eye contact. It wouldn't do to have a panicking puppy on his hands, so he hoped that sharing some of his thoughts would serve to put Jounouchi at ease. "A virtual reality program is one possibility; therefore, we'll check on the system and computers in my laboratory to see if they can provide us with any clues. We'll just take things one step at a time and you will be back with your loser friends before you know it."

"Kaiba…" Jounouchi stared before lowering his gaze as though embarrassed. "Thanks, I guess."

Fortunately they reached their floor right then, saving them from an awkward silence. The doors opened with a soft ping and the two men stepped out into a dimly lit corridor. They were in the third basement level and, with Seto in the lead, they advanced down the corridor, passing doors on either side.

"VR-project-584C"," Jounouchi read out loud the plaque on the door that they halted in front of. "I don't remember the VR pods being down here. Did ya move 'em?"

"We're in the process of modifying the old system to be more portable and user-friendly," Seto informed as he used the number pad to the side to input the security code. A double-beep sounded, which meant it had been accepted, and then he bent his head to let another device scan his eye.

Jounouchi whistled lowly from behind. "Wow, talk about tight security."

The door clicked and slid open with a hiss. "It's necessary. In this business, you can never be too cautious."

Seto walked in and did a quick survey of the room. Everything appeared to be in its normal state. The lab had the main VR equipment in an area enclosed by sheets of Plexiglas. To his right was a large set up of computers and other various tools. "Go and see if you can turn on any of the computers. I will test the VR system."

"Sure thing, _boss_."

Seto entered the enclosed section and began examining some of the VR helmets, cables, power sources and other bits. All of it was dead. No matter what he did, he could not garner the slightest response from anything. He growled and threw another useless device to the ground. Why was nothing important working? It didn't make an ounce of sense that some things like the elevator would operate, but others wouldn't. It seemed that Jounouchi had been correct when he said that the rules had been changed.

"Damn it." He stormed back out into the main area. One look at Jounouchi's face told him that there had been no success there either. "There must be one functional computer somewhere!"

Jounouchi shrugged uncomfortably and studied the floor. "Maybe we aren't allowed to get information that way. It'd be too easy… or something."

"Allowed?" Seto glared icily. "This is not a game. There is nobody controlling us."

"Then what the hell is it?" the other man challenged.

Seto clenched his fists. He didn't know what was going on yet, but he was not about to give up. Reaching out, he snatched Jounouchi's arm and pulled him along out of the lab.

"Hey! Let go. I—"

"Wait by the elevator." Seto forcibly shoved him in that direction.

"Hold on, what? Where are _you_ going?"

"To test the computers in the other labs." There were twenty-eight all together on this level. He was bound to come across one that would boot up.

Jounouchi did not move right away, wasting precious time as usual. "But… why can't I come along? We're supposed to stay together."

Sneering, Seto said, "You slow me down. Now get over there and don't move." He turned away, his trench coat flaring out behind.

"But, Kaiba!"

He blocked out the shouts and began entering the security code for the first door he came across. Jounouchi listened for once and stayed put, which was fortunate since Seto was starting to have a difficult time controlling his temper and he did not want to get into a fight with the other man. This wasn't the time or place for that. In addition to searching for an operational computer, he used the alone time to calm down so that he would not lose himself to anger and frustration.

About twenty minutes later, he was still searching. Every computer he'd tried had been exactly the same – dead. He came to a halt in the middle of the hallway after exiting the twelfth room. Nothing. How could there be nothing? His fingernails dug into his palms as he fiercely tried to understand. Lost in thought, he at first took no notice of a whisper of sound where before there had been only silence. Gradually, however, he became aware of it and raised his head sharply. The whisper floated to him from somewhere up ahead, soft and wordless. Suddenly wary, Seto took a cautious step towards it, wondering about its source. It couldn't be Jounouchi as he was in the opposite direction.

The whisper grew in volume until finally one word could be made out. Seto froze.

"_Big brother!"_

"Mokuba…?" It was impossible. There was nobody here aside from himself and Jounouchi. Seto retreated a few steps. It was not real. It couldn't be. It had to be an illusion such as Yugi had been earlier.

"_Brother! Big brother!"_

Seto shook his head in denial, trying to remain firm. "No." He should head back to Jounouchi now. He'd been gone for too long already.

But then the next shriek reached his ears and his protective instincts kicked in and took over.

"_Help me, Seto! I need you!"_

Without having made a conscious decision, he was running forward, completely disregarding the voice in the back of his mind that insisted it was only a hallucination. It was Mokuba's voice and it was begging for his help. There was nothing else he could do but go to his brother. Seto ran until he came to an open door from which a strange light spilt out. Knowing better than to rush headlong in, he moved stealthily up to it and peered in, hoping he wouldn't find a gun pointed at his face. There wasn't one, but when he caught a glimpse of the interior, it felt like he took a punch to the stomach and the air abruptly left his lungs. Inside was one of his worst nightmares come to life.

"Mokuba!"

"B-brother?" The young teenager turned his head in the direction of the door, but a white cloth blindfolded him. He was sitting with his back against the opposite wall, curled up as much as possible while his ankles were tied together with a heavy rope. His hands were behind his back, presumably bound as well. Completely stripped of every last piece of clothing, Mokuba was shivering and sobbing. Red lash marks littered his exposed skin.

"Seto?" He whimpered again.

"Oh god. Mokuba!" Seto flew in with little regard to his own safety. He had to get Mokuba out of here. In his distress, he had momentarily forgotten that there could be someone else in the room.

Several feet in, Seto was jerked to a halt, grabbed and held from both sides. "No, damn you!" He tried to pull away so that he could get into a fighting stance, but the arms that held him were as solid and unbreakable as stone. Looking to each side, all he could see were two large men with bulging muscles and masked faces. They didn't make a move or a sound as Seto struggled and threw expletives right and left. Instead they remained staring straight ahead with twin blank expressions as though they were merely holding a sack of potatoes between them.

A third man peeled away from the shadows in front of them. His face, too, was masked. In one hand he held a short riding crop, and he ignored Seto while boldly approaching Mokuba, who cringed away at the sound of the footsteps.

"You bastard! Stay the fuck away from him!." With renewed fury, Seto struggled harder, but his captors didn't so much as flinch. They seemed to have inhuman strength. "I'll kill you!" If he could just get one arm loose…

"Brother, help! Don't let him hurt me again!"

"Don't you fucking dare touch him!" His own strength ebbing, Seto could only watch helplessly as the masked man reached down and grabbed a handful of Mokuba's hair at the back of the head. "No! Bastard!"

What followed nearly destroyed Seto. The things that man did to the poor boy went beyond cruel and, even though he was only a few feet away, Seto could do nothing. Whips, knives, and worse… He couldn't save his little brother from the unbearable torture, but could only watch, powerless to stop it, as the one light in his life was gradually snuffed out. Mokuba's terrible screams of pain and fright, mixed with the sour smells of blood, vomit and cum, broke something in Seto. Limp with exhaustion and dismay, he hung uselessly between his captors. There was a numbness creeping up from his feet and what felt to be a noose tightening around his neck, choking him. He had failed Mokuba in the worst way. He'd failed to protect him, to be the big brother he was supposed to be. He might as well be dead.

"Mokuba…"

"_Big brother!"_

"Kaiba!"

**To be continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** **Thanks so much for the reviews (and story favs/alerts) for last chapter! I really appreciate them and I hope I live up to your expectations! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 3: Jounouchi's Fall

After half an hour of pacing in front of the elevator, Katsuya finally decided he'd had enough of waiting behind. He shouldn't have let Seto go off alone in the first place, but he'd seen the growing irritability and thought it would be good to give Seto a little time to himself.

_But he must've cooled off by now, and I ain't some dog that'll 'sit and stay' on his command. 'Sides, I've a bad feeling about being apart from him._

At the end of the corridor, he faced the direction in which he'd seen the other man disappear and called out Kaiba's name softly, trying not to awaken The Echo or something worse. There was no answer, however – not that he'd honestly been expecting one, he supposed. Instead of calling again, he purposefully set out, checking doors as he went by. They were all locked and showed no hint of light leaking through the cracks or occasional windows. Kaiba must have gotten quite a bit further in his search.

Katsuya was grimacing at the ugly brownish floor tiles when, without warning, the lights went out, leaving him stranded in the pitch dark.

"Oh great," he muttered and stood blinking, hoping his eyes would adjust a bit. He was sure things couldn't get much worse than this. Alone in the dark, three floors underground and no idea where he was going… Nope, this was definitely about as bad as it got. But then, as if to prove him wrong, he heard a despairing shout from somewhere up ahead that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise.

"Kaiba? Kaiba!" Praying that he wouldn't run into anything nasty, he put his hand on the smooth metal wall as a guide and jogged forward as fast as he dared without tripping over his own feet in the dark.

_What the hell would make Kaiba yell like that? Man, this ain't good._

When he saw the open door with the odd, flickering light coming out, he approached it with his heart hammering in his chest. Cautiously, he peered around the frame and started to whisper, "Kaiba, are y—" The words stuck in his throat at the sight before him. "Oh _god_."

Kaiba was there, that much was certain, but there was something horribly wrong. Standing in the center of the room, the unmoving brunet had his back to the door and appeared to be fixated on the opposite wall, unaware of the wriggling mess of cables that snaked out from the walls and floor to coil around his body. Smooth and metallic, they seemed to be alive as they encircled and crept up their prey's legs, arms and torso. The scene was so absurd, like something straight out of some Sci-Fi flick, that for a moment Katsuya could only gape in open astonishment.

Finally getting a hold of himself, he shouted loudly, "Kaiba!"

There was no sign that Kaiba had even heard. Terrified, yet knowing he had to do something, Katsuya ran into the room and dodged through the animated cables. He managed to get in front of the other man with little difficulty, but he cried out again in dismay when he caught sight of Kaiba's face. Kaiba was staring straight ahead with wide eyes so dilated that only a thin sliver of blue remained. And his expression… Katsuya had never seen Kaiba show such a frightening expression before. Lips drawn back, his teeth bared in a silent snarl, Kaiba looked like a wild animal, cornered and unable to fight back.

"K-Kaiba?" Still no response. Not even a twitch. "Come on, snap out of it. You're just… you have to… Damn it, Kaiba! It's an illusion! It's not real!" Katsuya placed his hands on the frozen CEO's shoulders and shook him. "It's not real! You told me! It's not…" It wasn't working. Katsuya whimpered as he felt the slick touch a cable brush his hands.

"Wake up! Don't you dare leave me here alone!" He wouldn't be able to survive on his own. Not in this nightmare. Without Kaiba's solid, confident presence, Katsuya knew he'd fall to pieces before long.

_This is fuckin' insane! Kaiba's gonna die if I don't do something quick!_

Katsuya retracted one arm and then smacked Kaiba's cheek with an open palm as hard as he could. The sharp crack was loud enough to wake the dead. For a moment, it appeared that it hadn't been enough, but just as Katsuya was pulling back his hand for another desperate go, Kaiba shivered violently and gasped as though surfacing from a pool of water he'd been under for too long. Blinking slowly, he shuddered again and finally seemed to focus on Katsuya, who almost collapsed with relief.

"It's okay, Kaiba. I'll get ya outta here. Whatever you saw wasn't real, I swear. 'You understand?" Katsuya bit his lip as he searched Kaiba's still scarily dilated eyes for some kind comprehension. He grabbed Kaiba's shoulder and gave it a quick shake, patting Kaiba's cheek with his other hand. "Kaiba? It's me Jounouchi. You with me? Kaiba?"

A tiny nod, but it was all that was needed. "Okay. Good." He breathed deeply, trying not to hyperventilate as he noticed the snake-like things begin to reach for the brunet's unprotected neck. "We… you gotta help me. I'm… I'll…" He looked around desperately, but saw nothing that could be used to cut the cables away. "Oh hell. Okay, uh, I'm gonna try to pull these suckers off ya. The moment you get loose, I want you to fight and make a break for the door. Got it?"

Another nod and a noise from the back of Kaiba's throat that sounded suspiciously like a whimper.

"You'll be fine. Just don't get caught back up in the hallucination. Remember, it's not real. You told me yourself." If things weren't so serious and twisted, Katsuya would have laughed at the ridiculous notion that Seto Kaiba, the stoic businessman who could cause billions of workers to lose their jobs with nothing more than a snap of his fingers, needed comforting from the lowly street "mutt."

Impulsively, Katsuya leaned in and rested his forehead against Kaiba's. He needed a few seconds to gather his courage and hopefully pass some of it on to the other man. Kaiba's skin was ice cold.

Katsuya took another deep, shaky breath, pulled back and grabbed a handful of cables from around Kaiba's shoulders. He tugged hard and was surprised to find they came loose with only a little resistance. Gaining some confidence, he began to tear viciously at the wire ropes. They were loosened and pried from their holds around Kaiba's chest and legs, and new ones seeking to cling again were batted away.

Breathing heavily from exertion, Katsuya finally yelled, "Run! Kaiba, get out!" He was so thankful he wanted to cry when Kaiba obeyed. The man tore himself from the remaining cables and lunged for the door with Katsuya right on his tail. They stumbled out into the dark hallway and didn't stop running until the elevator came into view. Only when the doors closed behind them and the elevator car began moving upwards did Katsuya feel safe.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Katsuya sat on the thinly carpeted floor of the (thankfully lighted) car with his back against the cool, metal wall and his eyes shut. His knees had given out as soon as the adrenaline rush had left his system and his harsh pants joined Kaiba's to fill the small space.

_What the hell just happened?_

Cracking open one eye, he peered across the car in concern. Kaiba's back was to him and he'd yet to hear a single word uttered from the other man. Whatever Kaiba had seen in that room must have been soul-crushing. He tried to relax and wait patiently for Kaiba to recover a bit, but eventually, Katsuya couldn't take any more of the silent treatment. "Hey, Kaiba, do you, uh, wanna talk about it?"

"Just…" Kaiba's rough voice cracked, causing Katsuya to jerk his head up in shock. "Just give me a moment."

His request did nothing to ease Katsuya's anxiety.

"Oh… Um, sure thing."

There was a cheerful ping to let them know they had reached the office floor again and the elevator doors slid open, but when neither man made a move to exit, they closed again a few seconds later. Katsuya picked at a loose thread on his jeans and wondered if he would ever get to see his friends and family again. It was still possible that they were out there somewhere, maybe even searching for him. He hoped that there was someone looking after Shizuka if she was lost in this place as well. Katsuya gnawed on his lower lip and pulled his knees closer to his chest. If only he knew for certain that she and the others were safe, it wouldn't matter so much what happened to him.

Sometime later, after Katsuya had become lost in a daydream about reuniting with everyone, Kaiba moved to sit down next to him. Katsuya turned his head to look at him, taking in the other's haggard appearance.

"It wasn't real, y'know," Katsuya said in a lame attempt to reassure. Of course, even though the images had been an illusion, the emotions – pain, terror, helplessness – were real enough. He still couldn't think about Yugi without flinching at the memory of the knife and blood.

Kaiba nodded absently. His eyes were downcast and he looked almost forlorn. It was not an expression that suited the powerful CEO at all. However, although he knew it was wrong of him, Katsuya couldn't help but feel awed and slightly grateful that he was getting to see a vulnerable side of Kaiba Seto that nobody aside from Mokuba ever got to.

_Kaiba _is_ only human, after all._

He wondered at the strange burst of warmth in his chest at the thought.

"Can… can I ask what you saw?"

"Mokuba."

Kaiba's distant tone worried Katsuya, but he had been expecting that answer – who else could rip through Kaiba's fortress-like defences so thoroughly? But he winced all the same. "Oh, sorry."

Kaiba grunted in acknowledgment and wearily leaned his head back against the wall. A stray chestnut lock of hair slipped over one eye and, without thinking, Katsuya reached over to brush it out of the way. His lips quirked at the way it slid like silk against his fingers. Then, realizing what he'd just done, Katsuya met Kaiba's startled gaze with his own. "I-I'm sorry," he stuttered while silently berating himself for acting like a fool. Whatever had possessed him to touch Kaiba in such a familiar way?

Fortunately, Kaiba only raised an eyebrow before smoothly standing up without comment. He gave his trousers a quick brush and motioned towards the doors. "I want to look at the computer one more time."

"Sure," Katsuya said agreeably, also getting to his feet. As they walked out into the reception area, he added, "So, d'ya believe me now?"

"About what?" Kaiba swung open the office door.

"That we need to stay together, like Yug' said." After watching the other man settle behind the desk once more, Katsuya decided to go over to the leather sofa on the other side of the room instead. It would be nice to relax for a bit, at least until they'd thought up their next course of action. He sighed as he fell into the soft cushions, bouncing a little before settling down with his hands behind his head and his legs stretched out.

For a while, there came only the noises of Kaiba fiddling with the machine. Then he finally said, "That wasn't Yugi. I thought we had cleared that up."

"But it's still true! I mean, look at the facts. You let me go up the stairs alone in the game shop, and suddenly I'm trapped in some hallucination and you're stuck outside." Katsuya pulled out one hand and waved it around to help make his point. "And then it happened to you when I stayed back at the elevator while you ventured off on your own, which was really stupid by the way. It seems we're most vulnerable when we're alone, don't it?"

"You saw Atemu while I was still standing behind you."

Katsuya scowled. "You _know_ I'm right. The dangerous part didn't happen until after you left." It wasn't like he was any more thrilled at the idea of being in Kaiba's company. Although, he had to admit it was way better than going through this alone. And if Kaiba helped keep the spooks away, then who was he to complain?

"You're the one that left that time. Not I."

With a huff, Katsuya rolled off the sofa and crawled over to the enormous windows. The view from the top floor was amazing as it stretched out over the entire city. Trying to take it all in, he pressed his nose against the glass and smiled when he realized he could even see a thin strip of the ocean. That sure brought back memories. He peered at the tiny streets and buildings far below, hoping to catch sight of some movement that would tell him that they weren't the only two living beings left in existence. Everything remained obstinately stationary, however.

"Do you see anything?"

Katsuya flinched and tilted his head up to find Kaiba standing over him, also looking out. When had he wandered over? "No. D'ya think they're experiencing this too, or is it just us?"

"Impossible to guess."

With a depressed sigh, Katsuya leaned his forehead against the cool glass. "Just where is everyone?" There was nothing encouraging at all about the grey, lifeless city. For Katsuya, who loved sunshine, laughter and people, this felt exactly like what he imagined to be… "Hell," he whispered, his eyes widening as an idea hit him.

"What?"

Katsuya continued to stare out at the bleak city as his insides turned to ice. It was a terrible thought, but it would explain a lot and nothing else made sense so far. "W-we're dead. We're dead and that's why we're here. This has gotta be hell or purgatory or something like that!"

Knuckles rapped against the top of his head until he met Kaiba's eyes again. Kaiba was not amused. "You think we are _dead_? That's the genius conclusion you've come up with?"

"Well, what else could it be?" The more he thought about it, the more firmly he believed it. "It all fits, doesn't it? The shadows, the ghosts, the lack of people. Just look out there! That's not our world, it can't be! We've _died,_ somehow, and… and…" He smacked the palm of his hand against the glass, feeling trapped and frightened. If they were dead, then they could never go back. He'd never see Shizuka again. He'd never get to see _anybody_ again.

Katsuya was jerked to his feet with a choked gasp, his collar fisted in Kaiba's hand. Icy blue eyes ensnared his gaze and held it.

"We are _not_ dead, you idiot," Kaiba growled.

"But—"

"If I were dead, why would I be stuck here with _you_? You are intensely annoying, true, but I can easily think of worse people to be forced to spend my time in hell with. Believe me, I would know if this was hell or something akin to it."

Katsuya blinked, his panic subsiding a fraction as he registered the other's words. It almost sounded like Kaiba had just complimented him in a strange, roundabout way. But he quickly shook it off and slapped Kaiba's hands away so that he could stand on his own.

"Don't act so fucking smart all the time, Kaiba! You don't know shit about what's happening, and neither do I. And… and you might not even really be here right now." He warily backed away a step. "What if…" He gulped. "What if you're not really you, but just another figment of my imagination like Yugi was? _He_ looked real, felt real. I… I can't tell the difference!"

That seemed to give Kaiba a pause. "Or _you_ could be the imaginary one here."

"What? With how freaked out I'm feelin' right now, there's no way I'm not really here. Imaginary people don't feel stuff, do they?"

"Well, I am most definitely not the one who's—"

"Prove it!"

Kaiba shot him a narrow-eyed glare as though he was offended that Katsuya would dare question his authenticity as a substantial human being. "Fine. I will. Did you know I'm allergic to bee stings?"

"Um, no." Katsuya blinked, thrown off by the random change of subject.

"When my brother and I were still in the orphanage, I went into anaphylactic shock from a sting and had to go to the emergency room. I carry an Epipen with me to keep Mokuba from worrying." He smirked and added, "There's your proof."

"Er…" More confused than ever, Katsuya wasn't quite sure how to respond. "I don't get it."

"Nothing new there," the taller man said with a snort, but when Katsuya glared at him, he rolled his eyes and explained. "If you recall what 'Yugi' apparently told you, the illusions cannot impart new information."

Understanding began to dawn. "Oh! So because I didn't know about your allergy…"

Kaiba nodded and folded his arms over his chest. "Now it's your turn."

It made sense. If the Yugi-hallucination couldn't tell him anything he didn't already know, then Kaiba, if he was the same, shouldn't be able to either. And he certainly hadn't known that Kaiba even had any allergies, much less to something as common as an insect sting. He'd always just kind of assumed that Kaiba Seto was immune to things that brought most lesser mortals down.

Frowning thoughtfully, Katsuya eyed the other man, realizing that this was the first time he'd ever heard Kaiba willingly admit to having a weakness. "Hey, how d'ya know I won't use what you just told me against you?"

"Excuse me?" Kaiba said, raising an eyebrow at the unexpected question.

"Well, um, like next time I'm mad at you, I could throw a nest full of angry hornets into a room you're in and you probably wouldn't survive."

Kaiba didn't say anything. He just glared in a way that made it obvious he thought Katsuya had just uttered something more ridiculous than usual.

"Er… Not that I would, of course," Katsuya added, scratching his elbow to hide his awkwardness.

"Let's just say I know better than to think so low of you. But enough of that," Kaiba finally said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Tell me something I _don't_ know. If you can."

Katsuya grumbled a bit and turned to look out the window while he pondered what to say. It had to be something that wasn't common knowledge among his group of friends since they saw Mokuba fairly often and the kid probably told his brother everything. There was one thing Kaiba couldn't know, since the only person who did was Honda, who had sworn on their friendship not to spread it around.

"I…" He hesitated before taking a deep breath and lifting his head to meet Kaiba's gaze in the reflection on the window glass. "I'm gay." He was so proud of himself for not stuttering as he said it.

There was a flicker of something unreadable in Kaiba's eyes, but at least he didn't laugh or make fun straight away. Still, he wished Kaiba would respond so that they could move on already.

"You… uh, you didn't know already, did you?" Katsuya didn't think it was possible, but this _was_ the man who was rumoured to have a network of spies and hidden cameras throughout the city.

Kaiba shook his head slightly. "No…" It seemed like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind at the last second. "No. So I suppose you are truly Jounouchi Katsuya."

"Yeah. Right. But could you… I mean…"

"Not to worry," Kaiba said, cutting him off with a smirk. "If you keep my secret, I'll keep yours. Not that there's anyone around here to tell."

Blushing a bit with embarrassment, Katsuya broke eye contact and looked down at the city below them again. A glimmer in the distance immediately drew his gaze and he squinted, trying to see the unwavering bluish-white glow more clearly. Not taking his eyes off it, he excitedly pointed at it and asked, "Hey, you see that?"

Kaiba looked in the direction of Katsuya's pointing finger. "The light?"

"So I'm not imagining it! Where's it coming from? Can you tell?"

"It appears to be approximately where the mansion is."

"Huh? Your home?" Katsuya turned his face to Kaiba in astonishment. "You sure?"

Kaiba nodded. "There's no doubt about it. Even in this dim lighting I recognize the exterior."

When he looked again, Katsuya realized that it was true. The faint outline of the distant Kaiba Mansion could be seen around the strange light. "So there's a light on at your house. Maybe there's somebody there?" Katsuya offered tentatively, hardly daring to get his hopes up.

"Perhaps…" Frowning, Kaiba shook his head and stepped back. "Well, there is only one way to ascertain the source of it."

"Crap. That means we gotta go back out into those creepy roads, don't it?" Return to the darkness with shadows that moved but weren't attached to any visible creature. Katsuya couldn't say he was looking forward to that.

Kaiba, who was already moving to the door, threw a challenging smirk over his shoulder and said, "Come along, mutt. Your master will protect you."

"As if!" Katsuya huffed, glaring at the trench-coat covered back. "You're such an ass."

Aside from a short, patronizing chuckle, Kaiba ignored the insult. Cursing under his breath, Katsuya began to follow, only to stop short as a terrible sense of foreboding washed over him. Goosebumps prickled his skin at the strange chill.

"What the hell?" he muttered, rubbing his arms and looking around the room for the cause. Nothing in sight explained why his heart was pounding with increasing speed. Then, fearfully, he turned his gaze on the office door from which Kaiba was now only a few feet away.

_There's something behind that door._

He didn't know how he knew, but the premonition was so strong that he couldn't ignore it. He recalled what Yugi had said about something searching for them.

_It's found us. Whatever it is, it's waiting just on the other side!_

Fighting both doubt and growing terror, he found his voice just as Kaiba's hand closed around the door handle.

"Kaiba, no! Don't open—"

But the warning came just an instant too late. When Kaiba touched the handle, the door burst open as though by an unnatural gust of wind, slamming back against the wall with a resounding crack. Katsuya had only a second to register the fearsome thing that erupted through the opening. Huge, thick and as black as tar, the formless entity smacked into Kaiba at full force. The wide-eyed brunet flew back across the room and slammed into Katsuya, who hadn't even had time to move, and they collided against the window, knocking the breath out of him. The glass held – for a fraction of a moment. Then it cracked, splintered, and shattered behind Katsuya's back. Time seemed to freeze as they hung hundreds of feet up in the air surrounded by glittering shards.

And then they fell.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Katsuya couldn't find enough breath to let out the scream that filled his head as they plummeted headfirst down the side of Kaiba Corp. The dark windows were a blur as they sped past.

_We're gonna die…_

It was the only coherent thought left in his mind.

Somehow Kaiba had turned so they were facing each other. Their eyes met and Katsuya could see his own panic and shock reflected in the other's blue depths. Katsuya clung tighter, his fingers digging desperately into Kaiba's back as though it would slow his freefall. The wind that shrieked past made it impossible to speak.

The ground rushed towards them, drawing nearer and nearer as though they were zooming in on a map of the city. Katsuya wondered hysterically how they could be about to die if they were already in hell.

_This is fuckin' crazy!_

_But… Maybe I can still save Kaiba._

It was a stupid, impossible idea, but he had to try anyway. Shaking off the fear-induced paralysis, Katsuya fought to shift his grip. He was able to twist himself under before Kaiba realized what was happening and tried to fight back, but it was too late. Even with a slight height disadvantage, Katsuya had managed to trap Kaiba above him. He hoped with all his might that he would be able to cushion Kaiba's impact when they hit the pavement.

Katsuya replied to Kaiba's pained snarl with a weak smile. Then he closed his eyes as the top of a tree heralded the approaching end.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They never hit the ground. Instead, they were transported into chaos. Heat seared Katsuya's skin, but it felt like nothing compared to the _noise._ Screams and shouts and what may have been garbled voices deafened him so much he instinctively tried to curl up and cover his ears, only to find his arms refused to respond. In fact, his entire body felt numb aside from the burning heat. Inwardly panicking, Katsuya fought to open his eyes, to scream back for everything to just shut-up, to –

_Where's Kaiba? Gotta stick together… need to find –_

He was coming apart. He could feel himself unravelling even as he struggled to get a grip. On the outside, his body burned as though it was on fire, but inside it was frozen. He couldn't move, couldn't see. Katsuya screamed and screamed, but not even the slightest whisper escaped his lips. This was all so, so wrong.

He needed to find… _had _to find… who? Someone… ice… to soothe this burning…

_Kaiba-Kaiba-Kaiba _

Was Kaiba alive even? Were they both dead and stuck in this hell that was a thousand times worse than the place they'd just been?

The awful noise around him began to rise and fall like the sound of waves crashing against a cliff, only the cliff was his head and it was breaking apart. He couldn't take much more. He couldn't. He wanted to go back – back to the silent city where there'd only been Kaiba and him and nothing else. It had been so _quiet_ then.

_Help me. Please! I don't wanna stay here!_

"_Jou-kun! Just open your eyes!"_

Yugi's desperate shouts rising above the ear-splitting roar were the last straw.

_You're dead! I saw you die. You're not Yugi! Goawaygoawaygoawaygoawaygo—_

"_Jounouchi." _

The steady, deep voice cut through Katsuya's hysteria and a cool presence washed over him, somehow dampening the pain and the noise. Silently whimpering, Katsuya reached out with his mind, desperate to locate Kaiba. He couldn't make out a thing in the pitch black that filled his vision, but he was sure that the other man was near.

_Kaiba, help, don't leave me here. It hurts, the noise and the fire, and it's too dark and I can't—_

"_I know. It's all right."_

_No, no it's not. I don't want to be here. Let's go back, now._

"_I agree. It's too cold."_

Before he could wonder at the strange comment about the cold when it was anything but, everything began to change again. As quickly as it had started, the noise and heat went away. Katsuya thought he caught a glimpse of icy, azure eyes staring back at him through the darkness before he disappeared as well.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Haha, I always leave it at a cliffhanger type spot, but that just happens to be where I change POV as well, so no helping it! ;-P Thanks again for the reviews, it's great hearing from readers! Any ideas what's going on yet? Well, there's not a lot of clues yet, I guess, but things will eventually become clear (at least by end!).  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 4: Kaiba's Humanity

When Seto awoke, he did so without moving a muscle. Keeping his breathes slow and even, he reached out with his senses for any sign of danger, but found everything to be calm and quiet and, as far as he could tell, nothing was amiss – except for the fact that he seemed to be lying on uncomfortably hard, uneven asphalt. Seto eventually opened his eyes partway to get a better idea of his surroundings, but his view was unexpectedly blocked by a pair of golden-brown eyes that were overflowing with obvious concern. Startled, he choked on a gasp, which forced him to start coughing.

"Kaiba? It's about time ya woke up!" Jounouchi's familiar voice bashed through the remaining bit of fog in Seto's head. "You okay? Not hurt at all? I can't believe we survived that fall!"

Fall? Right. Something had attacked them up in his office and had sent them plunging to their deaths, but then...

Nothing. Except… "Mokuba!" He turned his head wildly at the remembrance of hearing his brother's voice, but the younger boy was nowhere in sight. It was the only thing he could recall before waking up here – Mokuba screaming his name.

"I thought I heard Yugi," Jounouchi admitted wistfully, his eyes flashing with pain at the memory. "Probably just another hallucination, though, huh? But I wish…" There was an open vulnerability in Jounouchi's expression that Seto had never seen before, and it caused an odd sensation in the pit of his stomach that he associated with comforting a crying Mokuba.

_How strange. Am I sympathizing with Jounouchi? _

"Have you never heard of personal space, mutt?" he snapped in a defensive attempt to conceal his thoughts.

Thankfully, Jounouchi quit looking like a kicked puppy, although the amused grin he now bore wasn't much better. "Well, I've been trying to give you some for the past five minutes or so," he said, "but you just wouldn't let go."

"Let go?" Abruptly, he became aware of how his arms were wrapped tightly around the other's torso. He even had the back of the other's T-shirt in a painfully tight grip. "Oh."

"Don't worry 'bout it." Jounouchi continued to grin teasingly. "You've been keepin' me warm."

Seto just grimaced and worked at unclenching his fingers, which were so stiff it actually took him a minute. Fortunately, Jounouchi had the good sense to keep his irritating comments to himself.

At last, Seto managed to push away and rise stiffly to his feet. He waited patiently until Jounouchi was up as well, before pulling back his fist and sending it flying. It hit its target with a satisfying smack and, having been caught by surprise, Jounouchi fell back on his rear. He stared up at Seto in shock.

"Wh-what the fuck was that for?" Jounouchi gasped, raising one hand to hold his cheek.

Seto folded his arms and glared harshly down at him. "That is merely a fraction of what I will do to you should you ever attempt to pull a stunt like that again," he replied coldly.

"Stunt? I was savin' your damn life!"

"I did not ask for you to—"

"Nobody said ya did!" Jounouchi interrupted loudly, scrambling to his feet. "But I wasn't about to let us both go splat if I could help it."

Seto sneered at that. As if he'd ever needed anyone's help to survive. "Next time, don't bother."

"Fine!" was the growled response. "Next time, I fuckin' won't!"

They stood glaring at each other, but, despite his outward expression of annoyance, there was a vague sense of contentment within Seto. It felt like old times – the two of them caught up in an intense face-off while their surroundings seemed to just melt away. Something about those moments had always been secretly thrilling. When other people attempted to challenge him, they were always after his status, money and power, but it was different with Jounouchi. Somehow, the rambunctious duelist didn't care about any of that when they battled, whether verbally or with cards. It was as though he never thought twice about what it meant to piss off an influential CEO and potentially dangerous enemy. There were, of course, a few dimwits in the world who would dare do such a thing, but for some reason Jounouchi was the only one Seto would allow to get away with it relatively unscathed.

Knowing it would serve to frustrate the other further, Seto smirked and, as though praising a dog who'd just rolled over on command, said, "Good boy."

But his satisfaction melted away as soon as he realized they were once again alone on the street without any idea of what was happening to them. Hallucinations of their loved ones in pain and dying; something unnameable trying to kill them; blacking out only to find they'd survived what should have been a certain death. It seemed they were not in the real world at all. It could be the Shadow Realm, of course, but somehow Seto felt that that wasn't the answer.

"Yo, jerk. I asked you a question!"

Pulled from his speculations, Seto looked over. "What is it now?"

"Which way to your place?" Jounouchi repeated as he looked up and down the empty street. "We should probably get going before that thing comes back, ya know."

He recalled the light they had seen from the top of Kaiba Corp. The next logical step was to investigate it, although it could very well turn out to be a trap.

"Well?" Jounouchi impatiently poked him.

Seto glared. "Do that again and you'll find yourself eating that finger for breakfast."

"Oh, I'm so scared."

"Mutt."

"Moneybags."

Seto rolled his eyes. He was _not_ going to play childish name-calling games with Jounouchi when they had much more important matters to deal with. Turning away, he briefly scanned their surroundings to get his bearings. "This way," he said shortly, not bothering to wait for a reply as he strode off in the direction of the mansion.

"I hate this," Jounouchi muttered after he caught up, eyeing the abandoned buildings on either side of the street. "It feels like something's going to jump out at us." He shivered and drew closer to Seto's side.

Instead of shoving Jounouchi away, Seto tried for a distraction. "When did you first realize it?" he asked.

Jounouchi tilted his head and looked up at him. "Huh?"

"Gay. When did you first realize that you preferred the same sex?" It honestly pained him how slow Jounouchi could be at times.

"What do you care?"

Seto raised his eyebrows at the other's defensive tone. He supposed the suspicion wasn't unwarranted given their history, but a fight in the middle of a deserted city with who-knew-what lurking around was the last thing they needed. With a shrug, Seto replied coolly, "I really couldn't care less, actually."

Jounouchi made a low sound of disbelief and continued to stare expectantly, but Seto ignored him. Sometimes silence was more effective than words. It probably wouldn't take long for Jounouchi to give in and begin talking.

A distant rumble drew Seto's gaze to the sky that remained hidden behind the unchanging cover of clouds. The sun was nothing more than a pale white circle, barely visible behind the greyness. There was no sign of a storm to explain what might have been the sound of thunder, but for some reason it left Seto feeling unsettled. His gaze dropped and he glanced around for anything that might be considered a threat. The street was as empty as before; however, the shadows that danced at the edge of his vision seemed thicker. Perhaps he was just imagining it, though.

_I _hope_ it's my imagination. If that thing attacks us again, we're as defenceless as sitting ducks in a pond out here._

"In my freshman year of Junior High," Jounouchi admitted suddenly, snapping Seto's attention back to him. "When I got a crush on my English teacher. I also realized I had the hots for one of the guys in the gang I was in at the time. 'Course I kept mum 'bout it, otherwise I would've been dead meat."

It was a lot more than he'd expected to hear. If he had ever imagined Jounouchi having the "hots" for anyone, it would have been that blond woman with the low cut tops and short skirts, Kujaku. Seto had seen them together often during Duel Monsters competitions.

"You think it's disgusting, doncha. That I'm a fag." It was Jounouchi's self-degrading tone, not his words, that made the most impression.

Seto mentally winced at the f-word but he took care to maintain a condescending tone when he asked out of honest curiosity, "Does it matter what I think?"

"No, of course not!"

Seto smirked as he took a right at an intersection. The traffic lights overhead were stuck on blinking red as all the others had mysteriously been. They were closer to the mansion now, but he estimated that it would take at least another half hour of walking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Jounouchi was still glaring at him, so he said rather callously, "Don't look at me like that. I'm way out of your league."

_And yet you interest me like nobody else ever has. _

"Fuck, like I'd ever be attracted to _you_! It wouldn't matter if you were the last guy on the planet, your personality _sucks_!" Jounouchi was shouting recklessly loud by the end of his tirade. Apparently a nerve had been hit.

They'd come to a stop and were standing face to face in the center of the wide street. Jounouchi's cheeks and ears were almost comically red with anger, while Seto maintained a passive expression and calmly folded his arms over his chest. It was obvious that they were going nowhere until Jounouchi was finished with his little tantrum. Seto opened his mouth to make some snarky comment but was abruptly cut off when a warped voice boomed at them, seeming to come from everywhere at once.

PERSONALITY SUCKS!

They both jumped, and Jounouchi began to curse, drawing Seto's bemused gaze back to him.

"Shit, it's The Echo!" Jounouchi yelped, peering around frantically.

-SONALITY SUCKS!

"Echo?" Seto repeated, becoming more unnerved by the second. "What are you talking about?"

"What? You didn't hear it earlier?"

'ONALITY **SUCKS**!

It wasn't like _any_ echo he'd ever heard. They were supposed to slowly fade away, not become more deafening with each repetition. It was now at the volume where he could virtually feel the air around him vibrate with each thunderous word. Seto clenched his fists to keep from slapping them over his ears like a cowering weakling.

**SUCKS! YOUR PERSONALITY! 'SONALITY SUCKS!**

"What are you waiting for?" Seto shouted at Jounouchi over the noise. "Make it cease."

Jounouchi, wild-eyed and white as a sheet, met his gaze. "'The fuck're you expecting _me_ to do?"

"What did you do previously when this happened?"

"I dunno! Nothing!"

"Well you obviously did _something_, otherwise your eardrums wouldn't still be intact!"

'**LITY SUCKS! SUCKS! SUCKS!**

This time they were both forced to cover their ears. Pain shot through Seto's skull and he wondered how much more his ears could take before they started to bleed. They had to stop this soon if they didn't want to risk permanent damage. He hated relying on Jounouchi to fix it, but without anything solid to attack, Seto couldn't do anything and there wasn't time to come up with another solution.

"Jounouchi!"

Jounouchi stared at him helplessly. Then, just as Seto was beginning to feel true anxiety rear up, Jounouchi closed his eyes and threw back his head, screaming, "Shut up! Shut the fuck up! You're not real, damn it!"

Seto gritted his teeth in disbelief. That was the best Jounouchi could come up with? The mutt was crazy if he thought _that_ was going to help. They waited for the voice, or echo or whatever it was to ignore the useless command, but surprisingly it didn't. Still cautious, Seto slowly uncovered his ears and glanced at Jounouchi, who appear to be similarly wary. But all remained quiet despite their doubts. The silence was bliss. Seto exhaled a breath he only just realized he'd been holding and attempted to sort out what had just happened.

"Oh man," Jounouchi groaned out, falling to his knees on the pavement where he hunched over with his back to Seto.

Seto noticed that the other's shoulders were heaving. He studied Jounouchi's back and listened to the faint sounds of retching while contemplating if he should say anything or just turn away to give the other some privacy. Something in him, however, was reluctant to let Jounouchi out of his sight.

"What is wrong with you?" Seto asked crossly, because he _wasn't_ worried about the other man at all. But when Jounouchi didn't reply or make a move to get up, Seto approached him. "Are you sick?"

"Jus' a bit n-nauseous," Jounouchi mumbled.

Seto nudged Jounouchi's back with the toe of his shoe. "Get up, then. We should keep moving."

"Fuck off."

Seto's eyebrows rose at that. He refrained from replying in kind, but took another step and crouched down in front of Jounouchi, meeting the other's startled gaze. "Oh. I thought you were crying."

"I'm not _crying_, y'ass. Crying's for sissies," Jounouchi insisted, dry eyed. "I'm just… this is all… I... Shit!" One of his fists smacked the ground in obvious frustration.

"Your eloquence astounds me."

"Shut up. I just don't understand what's going on. I wish I could make sense of it somehow." Jounouchi growled and roughly scrubbed a hand through his hair. "An' I wanna find Yug', if he's really still alive, and Honda and Shizuka and everyone. I'm so useless alone."

Seto opened his mouth, intending to say something reassuring, like how Jounouchi wasn't exactly alone right now. Instead, he simply said, "Whining isn't going to get us anywhere."

"I know that. Fuck, you're such a… a…"

"Jerk? Ass? Cold-hearted bastard?"

Jounouchi blinked a couple of times, then regarded Seto in amazement, his mouth agape. "Wow. I've never heard you talk like that before."

With a smirk, Seto said, "Don't get used to it. I try to set a good example for Mokuba."

"Uh, right. But it makes ya almost seem like a cool guy."

Seto just shook his head and stood up. He silently held out his hand to Jounouchi, who stared at it before raising his eyes to Seto's in an uncharacteristically scrutinizing manner. As the seconds stretched into a minute without any movement, Seto began to regret his offer and withdraw his hand. Before he could, however, Jounouchi reached up and caught hold of it. His fingers hesitantly curled around Seto's hand, as though expecting it to be suddenly jerked away like a cruel joke.

The warmth of Jounouchi's hand was a startling contrast to the nearly icy air around them. Tightening his own grip, Seto pulled Jounouchi to his feet in one smooth motion and was oddly reluctant to let go once they were standing face to face. Both men stared at their linked hands, neither attempting to pull away.

"Th-thanks," Jounouchi stuttered, clearly confused and embarrassed. There was a small blush adorning his cheeks which caused the corners of Seto's lips to twitch.

"Don't mention it. Now, if you're feeling better, we should…"

A sharp crack of thunder drowned out the rest of his sentence. Before they had time to react, the sky opened up and the world was all at once hidden from sight by a sheet of rain. It hit them hard and fast, like no downpour they had ever been in before. The big fat droplets stung where they hit the head and shoulders, and the roar of the rain against the street and shops was deafening.

_It's just one thing after another!_

Overcoming the shock that had momentarily paralysed him, Seto squeezed Jounouchi's hand harder to keep it from slipping away. It would be all too easy to get separated in this.

Tugging Jounouchi close, he said loudly into the other's ear, "There's a hotel just around the corner. Follow me."

Pulling Jounouchi along, Seto broke into a jog. He had to keep his head down to protect his face and it was only his good sense of direction that kept them heading the right way as it was impossible to see through the curtain of raindrops. The street was already flooding as the gutters overflowed. Seto came close to losing his footing twice in some of the deeper puddles that splashed freezing water against his legs.

They nearly ran right into the front of the building as it materialized out of the rain. Seto got a hold of the door handle and tried to turn it, his grip slippery from the water, but it refused to budge. He tried again and again, and then stood back as Jounouchi kicked at the wooden door painted a bright orange. It was a futile effort.

"It's locked!" Seto shouted, grabbing onto the other's wrist again and indicating towards the next building. Jounouchi nodded in understanding and they raced over to a large family restaurant next door. It turned out to be locked up tight as well. So did the gas station next to it, and the houses next to that. Every building they tried refused to let them enter. It was infuriating, especially considering how easily they had gotten into the café and Kaiba Corp earlier.

Jounouchi was testing a window in hopes that it would let them inside where the door hadn't, when Seto noticed the other man's shivering. If they stayed out in the open much longer, they would either end up drowning or catching hypothermia. Seto looked around and then motioned for Jounouchi to keep close as he led the way to the nearest building with an awning, which turned out to be a small flower shop. It would at least shelter them from the downpour, if not the cold. Jounouchi slid to the ground and leaned back against the wall, a small puddle already forming around his sodden body. Seto followed suit with more grace, but no less relief. The two men panted and rested without speaking for a while, just listening to the rain as it pattered loudly against the awning, which fortunately held firm.

Seto eventually roused himself enough to investigate the state of his clothing, noting that his trench coat had protected him a little. He was still soaked, however, and his hair felt plastered to his head while fat droplets rolled down his face. He brushed off and squeezed out the moisture as much as possible before turning to check on Jounouchi, who was busy wringing out his own shirt, which he'd stripped off to work at more thoroughly. Unconsciously drawn to the other's bare torso, Seto's gaze took in the lightly tanned skin stretched taught over well defined shoulders, chest and abs. The cold had caused goose bumps to rise along the otherwise smooth expanse of glistening flesh. It was hardly the first time for Seto to see Jounouchi with his shirt off – they had shared gym class one year, after all – but never had he appeared so…

"Kaiba?"

Seto tore his gaze away with a silent curse and glared down at his own wet boots.

_He might be gay, but that does _not_ mean I've any right to even consider that._

"I hope this lets up soon." Jounouchi was staring out at the falling rain, which rendered everything beyond the edge of the awning invisible. "I've never seen anything like it. Have you?"

"No," Seto answered, refusing to look at Jounouchi until he was sure the other had put his shirt back on. When he felt that it was safe again, Seto glanced over to find Jounouchi huddled up against the wall, his knees pulled up with his arms wrapped tightly around them. And he was still shivering. Seto's own body felt like ice, fingers and toes numb from the wet and cold, but he was better at hiding his discomfort.

After a while more, Jounouchi muttered, "You're sure we're not stuck in another VR world?"

_I'm not sure of anything right now_, Seto thought bitterly. He nodded sharply anyway and shifted to pull his trench coat tighter around himself. The thick leather material helped to keep in what little heat there was left.

"Oh…" Jounouchi sniffed and rubbed his nose on the sleeve of his T-shirt. "But, well, doesn't it feel like some kinda game?"

"Hm?"

Turning his head to rest his cheek on his knees and look at Seto, the huddled man said, "All this shit we've been experiencing, it ain't stuff that happens in real life. It just doesn't, an' I'd swear I was dreaming but it feels… well, ya know… If this was a video game I was playing, though, it'd be pretty sweet."

Seto glared. "Try speaking in Japanese. You're giving me a headache." He wasn't even going to mention how much the other's atrocious grammar and pronunciation got on his nerves.

"It's something like Silent Hill, only with less obvious monsters," Jounouchi went on as though he hadn't been interrupted. "Everyone's disappeared. Here we are, wandering from place to place in hopes of finding some clue, and bein' attacked by a… a thing and hallucinations and god knows what else. Not to mention this fuckin' unnatural rain…"

When the other trailed off, Seto looked away from where he'd been pointedly studying the obscured landscape. Jounouchi had closed his eyes, and Seto would almost have thought he'd fallen asleep except that the other's jaw was tightly clenched with barely controlled emotion.

"But ya know… you only get so many lives in a video game. I wonder how many we've used up so far. And I bet there's nothin' at your home anyway. Jus' more of this… this fucked up…" Jounouchi cursed and turned his face into his knees.

Seto frowned at the pathetic picture that Jounouchi made – huddled, wet and whimpering. It was the perfect moment for a stray dog comment, but he let it pass. With an inward sigh, Seto pushed himself to his feet. His muscles and joints had become stiff and he stretched them out before stepping across the short distance that separated him and Jounouchi. He stopped at the other's side and rapped the blond head sharply with his knuckles.

"Ow, what?" Jounouchi mumbled reproachfully without looking up.

"Slide forward," Seto commanded. He followed up with a shove to Jounouchi's shoulder.

Jounouchi did raise his head this time in order to stare in irritated bemusement. "What the fuck? Leave me alone, would ya? This is my spot."

"Just move forward, idiot, before I make you."

"Like you could," Jounouchi said with a snort, but grudgingly moved a few inches away from the wall. "There, happy? What the hell is this su—eep!"

Jounouchi stared over his shoulder at Seto, who had slid in between the wall and the other man's back to sit down. Before the other had time to protest, Seto pulled Jounouchi against him, shrugged out of his coat and arranged it over Jounouchi's body. It was all done before Jounouchi even had time to think about resisting.

"There. Now I won't have to deal with your frozen body later," Seto said. His back was pressed against the wall and he kept his arms at his sides, hands resting on the pavement. Jounouchi leaned lightly against his chest, his body as stiff as a board. They were both tense, neither daring to move or say anything more. Aside from Mokuba, Seto had never put up with anyone invading his personal space. Physical closeness made him uneasy at the best of times, and pissed off at the worst. That he had willingly moved into this position with Jounouchi was perplexing and he didn't know what to make of it.

He frowned and curled his hands into half-formed fists, fingernails scraping against the rock. It was for survival, he decided. Sharing body heat was the best way to keep warm in circumstances such as this, and it would be stupid to freeze to death or catch hypothermia merely because he was uncomfortable with a bit of human contact.

"This is… awkward?" Jounouchi muttered with a snigger.

"What's so amusing," Seto snapped, not seeing the humour in their situation.

"Nothin'. I'm just… not as horrified by this as I would've been before this whole mess started."

Seto looked down at the top of the other's head in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I like this side of you," Jounouchi declared, relaxing and shifting until he was leaning more fully against Seto. "I honestly couldn't stand you in high school. You never cared 'bout anybody but yourself and your brother, and duelling seemed to be more of an obsession than a passion for ya. Plus it felt like you picked on me more than anyone. You really hated me, huh?"

Seto was stunned by the other's words. How one could be so honest and open about one's feelings was something he never understood as feelings were to be hidden away in a small, secret place that no one could see. Jounouchi was too naïve, too innocent to understand how emotions could be manipulated and used as a weapon against you.

_Then again, maybe that's part of what has always attracted me to him._

It struck him that this was the closest he'd ever physically been to Jounouchi while not engaging him in a fight. With everything going on at the moment, it might also be the last time it would happen – a thought that somehow made him want to take a tight hold of the other man in an attempt to make it last as long as possible. He had no idea where the feeling came from, and had no experience with such a foreign emotion, but it was strong enough that, before he was consciously aware of it, he raised his hands from the ground.

"I never figured out why ya did, though. I didn't do nothin' but try to be your friend the first day. I know now you're not really into the whole _friends_ thing, but…"

Hands steady, but fingers twitching ever so slightly, he held them close to the other's body, not touching. There, he hesitated.

"Guess I'm just too low class to understand, right? Must be a rich guy thing. Me, I could never live without people to hang out with, talk to, or back me up in a tight spot. It'd be too lonely, I think."

_Lonely_.

Seto flinched.

"You can't be as cold hearted as ya make out to be, yanno. You wouldn't give a rat's ass whether I died here, otherwise."

He closed his eyes as he let his hands rest feather-light on the other man's waist. It scared him that that was all it took to set his heart pounding like he had just run a mile at full speed. Jounouchi must have not felt it at first, as he continued to ramble on for another minute until he suddenly tensed. Surprisingly, he react, even to slap at the hands or pull away from the touch. When there was no resistance, Seto slid his hands further around until he embraced Jounouchi loosely in his arms.

The air, although still chilly, felt warmer than it had a minute ago, and the rain had lightened up to a lazy drizzle. Buildings and street signs shimmered back into view, reflected in the puddles that had formed on the pavement. Seto allowed the tension to seep from his body when nothing further presented itself as a threat. His head dropped forward, nose brushing a soft mop of untamed hair, and inhaled the soothing scent of apples with a hint of rich chocolate.

"We should continue on," Seto finally said, although he felt no real inclination to move.

"R-right, but… but it wouldn't hurt to rest a bit, would it?"

"Hn."

"Just a little longer," Jounouchi insisted, shifting until he managed to free one of his hands, which he then laid over one of Seto's. "I… I don't mind."

Both Jounouchi's hand and voice trembled, Seto noticed with some astonishment. There was no fight, no struggle to escape, no curses or shouts of outrage. But still… Jounouchi could not possibly be comfortable with this – not after all the times he'd been hurt by Seto in the past.

Frowning, Seto began to pull his arms away, ready to push the other man off of him and put some distance between them. Before he could, however, Jounouchi clenched his fingers around Seto's hand.

"If you really do hate me," Jounouchi whispered fiercely, "tell me now."

"What?"

Jounouchi bowed his head further. "I just keep wondering what ya really think of me. You… you're putting me down one minute and then doing something pretty nice the next. Are you just playing with me? Do you honestly consider me a low-class mutt that you can kick around whenever you get the urge? Or… or what? I don't get you, but… but I _want_ to!"

Seto stared down at the back of Jounouchi's head, shocked by what he was hearing. "Jounouchi?"

"If… if you're only puttin' up with me right now out of pity or something stupid like that, then I wanna know and I'll get outta your hair. You can go on to the mansion alone and I'll… I'll go my own way."

"No." The voice sounded strange – rough with a touch of panic. Seto glanced around for the source before realizing that it had issued from his own throat. He looked down into Jounouchi's wide eyes.

"It's not… pity," he said while at the same time wondering why he wasn't just tossing Jounouchi off and taking the opportunity to escape.

Jounouchi's eyes narrowed. "Then what is it?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does to me."

Seto froze.

_What am I expected to say? That I don't mind your company all that much after all? That I don't want to be alone even if it's easier that way? Or that I'm inexplicably attracted to so much of you – your strength and perseverance in hopeless situations, the spark of fire in your eyes when you're angry, your laughter and natural ability to make friends with everyone, the way your hair turns to pure gold when the sun hits it?_

"Kaiba?"

How did other people express such emotions towards others? Perhaps it just wasn't possible for someone as broken as himself.

His eyes flew open (when had they even closed?) as the weight on his torso suddenly lifted.

Jounouchi had stood up and was looking in the direction of the street, obviously avoiding Seto's eyes. He tossed the trench coat onto Seto's lap and said with an unreadable tone, "Look, never mind. Let's just go. I'll try to keep my big yap shut on the way so as not to get on your nerves any more than I usually do."

As the other turned away, Seto numbly pushed himself to his feet. He held his coat clenched in his hands and stood there watching Jounouchi's back. The other's shirt was only thin cotton and after getting soaked by the rain it stuck to his skin, showing every line and muscle.

_I am a Kaiba. I've been running a multinational corporation from the time I was a high-school student. This is nothing compared to what I've been through since the death of my parents._

Then again, trusting Jounouchi and talking with him unguardedly was probably so difficult _because_ he was a Kaiba. Seto took a deep, silent breath, steeled himself and walked over to stand beside the shorter man, shoulder to shoulder. They looked out onto the puddle-filled street and the ghostly storefronts.

"I don't hate you. I never did."

"Right. Tell me another one."

A drop of water dripped from the awning edge, landing on Seto's cheek. He brushed it away irritably with his hand. Damn Jounouchi for making this even harder than it already was. "If you don't believe me, that's your problem."

Jounouchi glared over at him, but Seto didn't back down, meeting it with his own frigid gaze. It was Jounouchi who looked away first, shaking his head angrily. "Fuck. Fine, whatever ya say. I guess I wasn't worth even that much."

"My, aren't you just _full_ of self-pity today," Seto said with a sneer, which he managed to wipe away as soon as he realized it wasn't going to help matters. With another deep breath, he counted to ten in his head. When he was sure his temper was under control, he gathered his courage and stepped out in front of Jounouchi so that they were face to face. Forcing eye contact, he slipped his trench coat around the other's hunched shoulders, holding the lapels shut at Jounouchi's chest with one hand.

Jounouchi stared back, eyes narrow with distrust and uncertainty. Wrapped in the coat, which swept the ground because of his slightly shorter height, and his nose and cheeks red from the cold, he looked younger than his age. Like a child playing dress-up in his big brother's clothes. And yet, Seto could see a wariness and strain in Jounouchi's expression that proved he'd been through his share of hardships growing up.

"What're you doing?" Jounouchi asked, raising his chin and tensing as though preparing for a fight.

"Proving that I'm not the complete bastard you think I am and that I don't hold any feelings of hate or dislike for you." With that said, Seto slid his free hand along Jounouchi's cheek and rested it just below his ear, fingers curling into the hair at the back of his neck. "I suppose we are alike in that aspect. We don't trust blindly and don't believe words without something substantial to back them up."

Jounouchi flinched a little but otherwise didn't move.

Slowly, as though handling a wild animal that would bolt at any sudden movement, Seto took a short step to close the little space that remained between them. He guided Jounouchi's head to his shoulder and placed his other hand around the shorter man's waist to rest on his lower back. They were toe to toe, chest to chest. Jounouchi was not pushing away, but neither was he accepting it. His body was rigid and his arms remained at his sides.

Seto held Jounouchi lightly, hardly knowing what he was doing. He had hugged Mokuba plenty of times, but this was in every way different. He felt the rapid beats of Jounouchi's heart against him and realized that the other man was likely as scared and confused by Seto's action as he was. After a minute passed by with no response, something twisted painfully in Seto's chest – but honestly, what had he expected out of this? He took a breath and moved his lips next to Jounouchi's ear, afraid that if he spoke too loudly, he would shatter.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I like you."

There. It was out and there was no way to take the words back now. He pulled away from the unresisting Jounouchi, avoiding eye contact and trying to ignore the knot in his chest that hadn't loosened one bit with the confession.

Taking a step back, Seto readjusted his coat on the other's shoulders to make certain it wouldn't slip off. "We should go now."

He turned away and then stumbled when a weight suddenly smacked against his back.

"Oof!"

A pair of arms wrapped around his middle and squeezed. Seto stood still, feeling the other man's warm body pressed up against his back and what must have been Jounouchi's forehead resting between his shoulder blades.

"An' you call _me_ an idiot," Jounouchi complained. "You keep sendin' such mixed signals that I can't sort out what's the truth. I don't do subtle, I'm dense remember? So… so what ya just said…"

Seto lowered his head to stare at the hands interlocked over his stomach. He felt uncomfortable in the face of Jounouchi's direct honesty. Sometimes he forgot that Jounouchi didn't "do subtle" and that his words and actions were never layered in deceit as so many others' were.

"I meant it," Seto confirmed roughly.

Jounouchi's arms squeezed tighter for a moment. "Then… thanks. I'm glad."

Letting go, Jounouchi stepped around to face Seto, a wide smile displayed on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. He tapped Seto on the chest with one finger and said, "I like you, too. When you're not being an ass, that is."

Seto didn't know whether to glare or smile in return. The tightness inside of him loosened however, and he felt lighter than he had in awhile. "I'll attempt not to be such an ass to you, then," he finally said with a smirk.

"Yeah… Hey, Kaiba?" Jounouchi said as they walked out from under the awning. The strange rain had stopped as suddenly as it had begun, leaving only dirty brown water in the gutters and puddles here and there.

Seto stepped around one such puddle with a grimace. "Hm?"

"You really have changed since we first met in school. I never thought I'd ever be able to have a decent conversation with you, much less… this." When Seto looked over at Jounouchi, the other blushed a bit and turned his head away. "I'm glad, yanno. That you changed."

"I haven't changed," Seto said quietly after a moment. "If I were with anyone else, I wouldn't let them within five feet of my person and I certainly wouldn't be conversing with them in such a familiar way."

"Oh?"

The silence after that was too suspicious. Seto caught Jounouchi grinning at him and snapped, "What?"

The other's grin widened further. "So I'm special, huh?"

"Special?" Honestly speaking, he wasn't quite like all those other imbeciles in Domino, even if he was an idiot most of the time, so maybe Jounouchi was special in a way. Picking up his pace, Seto muttered coolly, "I didn't say that."

"Whatever, Kaiba!" Jounouchi's voice was still tinged with laughter. He caught up, walking faster to keep pace with Seto's long strides, and reached over to take Seto's hand in his. "Anyway, I'm jus' glad you're here so I don't hafta to do this alone."

Seto didn't reply verbally, but closed his fingers loosely around Jounouchi's hand.

They walked in silence after that, each lost in private thoughts about what lay ahead of them. The city was quiet now and their walk uneventful. If they had bothered to check behind them, however, they would have seen how the buildings and streets were being swallowed by a darkness that seemed to be following the two lost duelists. It crept steadily along the same path and all that came in contact with it was consumed.

**(Dun dun dun!)To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: You didn't forget about that 'SxJ' note in the summary did you? ;) The constant head-games are wearing them down and slowly bringing them together... but they've still a ways to go. They may have had a small break, but the worst has yet to come! As always, thanks for the reviews and comments!  
><strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 5: Jounouchi's Folly

The Kaiba property came into view with its twelve-foot surrounding stone wall, the first defence against those who would try to break in and do mischief, rising up out of the mist. Silent alarms and security cameras ran along the top and inside of the wall. The only entrance was at the front where a black, wrought iron gate blocked the driveway, inaccessible without express clearance from the guard on duty. The mansion itself was impressive in both size and architecture even when seen from the end of the driveway, three floors high and towering imperiously over the well manicured lawn and pruned trees and shrubs. It had been featured in several Home and Garden magazines over the years, but now it just looked dark and foreboding.

Katsuya peered through the bars of the gate, which felt more like ice than iron where his hands gripped them, and surveyed the yard. There was no one in sight, not that he had honestly expected there to be. He rested his forehead against the bars and waited for Kaiba to quit cursing at the uncooperative security panel. Normally the Kaiba brothers could enter without the help of a guard by punching in a number known only to them and going through a quick voice recognition process, none of which seemed to be working now.

Growing bored, Katsuya stepped back and scanned the walls on either side of the gate. The tops were well above his head, but otherwise they were regular mortared stone walls without spikes or other ornaments. He considered them for a moment, then shrugged and strolled over to where the brunet was now glaring with blatant venom at the panel.

"Hey…"

"This confounded thing might as well be a three thousand yen piece of junk for all the good it's doing. If it broke down on a regular day, security or one of the staff would let us in from the other side, but as you can see…" Kaiba swept his arm toward the empty yard in obvious disgust.

"Well…"

"If it's the wiring that is the issue, then I can do something about it. I need a screwdriver and… Great, everything is in my briefcase and I have no idea where _that's_ disappeared to."

Taking in the other's frustrated scowl and clenched fists, Katsuya bit his lip and wondered if he should butt in and risk bruising Kaiba's pride. He really didn't want to start another of their infamous arguments, not now when there was finally a chance for him to be close to Kaiba in ways he'd never dared to dream of before. Kaiba had _hugged_ him, had said he _liked_ him – what it must have cost the proud businessman to let his guard down enough to do that, Katsuya couldn't imagine. A warm, fuzzy feeling washed over Katsuya, but he wiped the silly grin from his face as soon as he realized it was there.

_Stupid. He doesn't _like_ like me, that couldn't be what he meant._

Something moved on the other side of the street. Katsuya had only seen it out of the corner of his eye, but he was sure he hadn't imagined it. Nervously he stared at the shadows and shuffled closer to Kaiba.

"Can ya fix it?" He asked hopefully.

"If I had the proper tools, yes." Kaiba folded his arms over his chest and frowned. "Unless you have some hidden in your jeans pocket, it's doubtful that we're getting in this way."

"We can climb over," Katsuya finally blurted out. He grinned sheepishly in response to the incredulous gaze that Kaiba turned on him. "It'd be a piece of cake, really. The cameras and alarms won't be working, and who'd be monitoring them, anyway? We just hop over and—"

"Hop over? Good luck with that."

"Aw, c'mon! I'd get on your shoulders first, or you can get on mine, whichever. It'll be the fastest way in!"

"Fine."

"I've climbed much higher… huh? Really?" Katsuya stared, bewildered by the unexpected approval of his plan, as Kaiba walked over to the base of the wall and crouched down.

"Yes. It's either climb the wall or kick the gate in. So get on already."

"You mean I get to be on top?" Katsuya teased. He couldn't believe that Kaiba was going to cooperate without a fight, but he wasn't about to question it either.

Kaiba rolled his eyes and replied drily, "Funny. Don't get used to it."

Fighting a blush, Katsuya carefully stepped onto the other's shoulders, placing his hands against the wall for balance. He had returned the trench coat to Kaiba once they'd reached the mansion, the walking having warmed him up enough to stop shivering, and now he winced a little at the thought of how his dirty shoes were probably ruining the nice white leather. He swore to himself that he'd pay for dry cleaning when it became possible to do so again, even if he had to pick up a fourth part-time job.

The taller man held onto Katsuya's ankles and slowly stood up until Katsuya could feel the wall's top edge by stretching his arms over his head. His fingers scrabbled to get a good grip. With some grunts and curses, he managed to pull his weight up with his arms and use his feet to find purchase in the stones where ever possible. Gasping, he finally got his upper body over the ledge where he was able to swing one of his legs over and straddle the top. He rested there a moment to catch his breath before checking below to see where his companion was at.

"Hold your hand out for me," Kaiba instructed, backing away from the wall.

"Right."

Katsuya lay down on his stomach and stretched his arm out and down, his hand open and ready. With a run and a flying leap, Kaiba latched firmly onto Katsuya's hand. Katsuya hissed and gritted his teeth against the burning pain that tore through his arm muscles and shoulders, concentrating on keeping a good grip on the other. After a small struggle and more curses, Kaiba joined him on top of the wall. They sat there panting for a moment and then Katsuya leaned forward and pressed his lips against Kaiba's cheek. He broke away with a tentative smile, pleased that Kaiba hadn't flinched.

Appearing mildly surprised by the action, Kaiba asked, "What was that for?"

"Jus' a thank-you. For before," Katsuya said with an embarrassed shrug. It had actually happened out of an impulsive curiosity to see how Kaiba would react to something he initiated. He wanted to know what '_I like you_' meant when it was Kaiba who said it. Friendship? More than that? But he didn't have the courage to ask.

"You're an odd pup," Kaiba commented, but there was no anger or disgust in it. Not waiting for a response, he turned and slid over the side of the wall, hanging on until he was able to drop the remaining five or so feet to the ground on the inside of his own property.

Katsuya quickly followed suit. He didn't land quite as gracefully as Kaiba had, losing his balance and falling to his knees. Fortunately the soft, springy grass cushioned the impact. He scrambled to his feet and brushed some dust off his jeans, the whole time feeling the other's amused gaze on his back.

"Clumsy."

"Hey, it's cats that land on their feet, not dogs." Katsuya turned and stuck out his tongue. The hint of a smile on Kaiba's lips made him nearly burst with happiness and pride. He couldn't recall anyone who wasn't Mokuba ever causing the aloof CEO to crack a sincere smile.

As the two men walked over to the driveway, the hazy sky began to darken and by the time they stepped onto pavement a few seconds later, night had fallen. The air was still and the sky dark with the absence of stars. Katsuya had never experienced anything like it. And then gradually the moon rose from behind the mansion, bathing them in an eerie red light.

Katsuya stood frozen on the driveway, unable to look away from the giant orb that now hung directly above the oversized house. Beside him, Kaiba sucked in a breath with a hiss of shock.

"A blood red moon," the brunet whispered.

Freaked out, Katsuya leaned closer to Kaiba and said, "I… I heard it's a sign of disaster. That there's a war or some tragedy coming." When he was nine years old, he had been obsessed with ghost stories and had read everything that was available at the school library on the subject. In the stories, when the moon turned that color, it always signified something terrible about to happen.

"Superstition," Kaiba muttered. "It is merely a natural phenomenon caused by the passing of the light through the atmosphere as the moon rises."

Katsuya tore his eyes from the sky to glance at Kaiba's face. The red light reflected off of Kaiba's eyes, turning the sapphires to an unnatural crimson hue. It sent a shiver up Katsuya's spine. He didn't care what scientific explanations there were, he couldn't help but feel that this was a warning of some sort.

"L-let's get indoors. I don't wanna be out here any—"

He jumped in fright at the squealing and clanging of metal behind them and they spun around in unison to face the sight of the gate twisting in on itself. A pitch black mass roiled on the other side of the barrier, sending tentacles of darkness through the warping bars as though impatient to break through. A stench that reminded Katsuya of a dead, rotting animal carcass reached his nose, choking him, burning his throat and making his eyes tear up. Trembling, his teeth chattering, he stood there frozen as the lurid thing continued to destroy the gate. He wanted to move, to run, but for some reason his feet refused to cooperate with what his brain was screaming at them to do.

"Jounouchi!"

Jerked out of the terrified stupor he'd fallen into, Katsuya gasped and stumbled back against Kaiba, turning to cling to him.

"It's that th-th-thing from Kaiba Corp!"

Kaiba didn't hesitate long enough to reply. He sprinted for his home, now hand in hand with Katsuya, who somehow managed not to trip or fall the entire way. When they finally came to the front steps, Katsuya was winded and silently cursing rich people for having such needlessly long driveways. They rushed up the stairs, taking two and sometimes even three at a time. At the top, he risked a glance over his shoulder and cried out when he saw that the thing from hell had made it through the gate and was advancing up the drive at an alarming speed.

"Open the door! Open the door!" Katsuya panicked, vigorously shaking Kaiba's arm up and down in his excitement.

"I am!" Kaiba yelled as he yanked the handle. The door flew open with unexpected ease, almost causing them to lose their balance. Not stopping to question why it wasn't locked like all the other ones in the city had been, they leaped inside, and the door slammed shut behind them with an ominous, firm thud, leaving them stranded in the dark and praying that they were safe from the monster.

Katsuya fought to get his breathing under control, his own gasps mingling with Kaiba's to fill the otherwise silent room. After a short time, when he'd calmed down enough to become aware of his surroundings, he realized that his eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness. He couldn't see a thing, not even the silhouette of Kaiba next to him.

"K-Kaiba? Where's the light switch?"

"Never mind that. I have the layout of this house perfectly memorized."

"Well… I wouldn't mind a little light anyway," Katsuya mumbled. He felt Kaiba start to move and tightened his grip on the other's hand. "Don't let go!"

"I won't."

"Where are we going?"

"The stairs, to the right. Follow me closely and I promise you'll not run into anything."

They began to walk with cautious steps, Kaiba taking the lead. The house was as dark and silent as a tomb, the passing of time meaningless in this place. They walked and walked until Katsuya began to wonder exactly how big the mansion was and why they had yet to turn to avoid furniture or walls – they should have hit _something_ by now – but he didn't want to distract or annoy Kaiba by asking the obvious. He instead concentrated on the feeling of the other's cool, elegant fingers wrapped snugly around his own rough and calloused hand.

_What are others gonna say when they see me, an ordinary, foul mouthed street-punk, hand-in-hand with the source of every girl's wet dream himself? _

A lot more people were going to hate him for this, assuming Kaiba would still want to be friends with him after all this was over. Mr Rich and Famous could have anybody he desired, after all.

Katsuya eventually grew tired of listening to the doubts swirling in his head. There was no point in thinking about the future when they had enough to worry about at present. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

"It feels like we're walkin' in circles. You sure you know where you're going?" Katsuya couldn't help but wince a little at how loud his voice sounded even though he'd barely spoken above a whisper. He tugged on Kaiba's hand when the other didn't reply. "Hey? We should've reached the end of the room long before now… This is weird, ain't it?"

_Heh, Kaiba probably just doesn't want to admit that he's lost in his own mansion_.

Katsuya opened his mouth again with the intention of teasing the prideful brunet, but before he got the first syllable out, he was struck dumb by a sudden revelation. The hand in his was _not Kaiba's_ – it was too wide and too rough, definitely nothing like the one he'd been holding minutes ago.

With a shriek that wasn't manly by any definition, Katsuya planted his feet and attempted to snatch his hand away, but the other's grip tightened, making it impossible to escape.

"Who the fuck are ya? Where's Kaiba? Get the hell away from me!"

"Hey! Hey, calm down! It's okay, Jou. It's me."

"No, I _won't_ calm down, you fuckin' psycho ghost! Let go! What the fuck did ya do to Kaiba?" Katsuya struggled against the other person's hold, desperate to get away. This was impossible, he hadn't let go of Kaiba's hand for even a second since they entered the mansion. There was no way someone else could have slipped between them and taken the other's place.

"Come on, man. You're not going to tell me you're afraid of your best bud now, are you?"

Katsuya hesitated, recognizing that voice. Tentatively, not daring to believe it, he whispered, "Hond'?"

"Yeah, there you go," Honda's deeper, familiar voice answered him.

There was a snap and gradually the darkness began to fade, light taking its place from some unknown source. Shadowed shapes became visible, at first only vaguely recognizable, and then details could be made out. He was in what appeared to be a sitting room, although one that was rarely used. There was a sofa and an armchair, dark green and stiff-looking. A dark wood coffee table and end table with a brass lamp were the only other furniture, along with a cabinet off to the side with glass doors that showed it contained various bottles of liquor. In the middle of the room, directly in front of Katsuya, stood Hiroto Honda.

Stunned, Katsuya blinked hard and stared down at their linked hands before returning his gaze to his long-time friend's face. "Wha… how the hell...?"

"You've no idea how relieved I am," Honda said with a warm smile. "I was hoping you'd come here, but it sure took you long enough."

Hope and distrust warred within Katsuya. On one hand he was happy to see one of his friends, but on the other he couldn't help but remember what had happened in the game shop when he went to see Yugi not long after running into Kaiba at the orphanage.

"Where is he? Where's Kaiba?"

"Huh? I have no idea where that bastard is." With a concerned frown, Honda stepped in closer to Katsuya. "Why do you keep asking about him?"

"He's not a bastard," Katsuya muttered. He ignored the other's surprised look and continued, "We were together until a moment ago. But somehow…"

"Well, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure he'll show up."

Shaking his head, still unsure, Katsuya backed away a bit. Even though nothing seemed out of place in regards to Honda's personality and appearance, except for the way he was still clinging to Katsuya's hand, there was a bad feeling growing in the pit of Katsuya's stomach. "Honda… What's going on? How did you get here? Where is everyone?"

"I don't know what happened, your guess is as good as mine, but I can get us out of here at least."

"Out?"

"Yeah, I was just waiting for you."

Katsuya stared at his friend, uncomprehending. Honda made it sound so easy. "How… how is that possible? Kaiba and I have been looking for answers this fuckin' whole time, and then you just appear and say there's a_ way out_? Outta what? Where are we?"

"I can't answer that, I told you. But you know you can trust me, Jou. Now come on, Yugi and Shizuka have been in tears, they're so worried about you, and Anzu's on the verge of running off to find you herself."

Honda's expression was so sincere that Katsuya felt guilty for being difficult, but he still held back. He looked into his friend's hazel eyes uncertainly. "I want to go with you, I really do. But first… first I want you to tell me a secret."

"Huh?" Honda's brow furrowed. "A secret? What do you mean by that?"

"Just… go with it, okay? It's the only way I can tell if you're real, that I'm not just hallucinatin' you," Katsuya explained, not breaking eye contact, anxious for the other to prove himself. "It can be anything, I don't care. Just so long as it's something I don't know yet. A secret that you've never told me or something that you know but I wouldn't. Please, Hond'?"

"Jou… I don't get you sometimes," Honda grumbled. "But sure, if that's what you want. All right, let me think. I guess it'll have to be from before we met, seeing as I've never kept anything secret from you…"

"Yeah, I know." Katsuya smiled a little, feeling more hopeful.

Finally the brunet grinned and snapped his fingers. "Oh, I know. My sister used to have a pet gold fish named Goldy, 'cause she sucked at naming things. Did you know that?"

Katsuya thought for a moment, then shook his head. The only pet he'd ever seen at Honda's place was their dog, Blankey.

"Yeah, so she had it for like a month, but one day I was so mad at her that I flushed it down the toilet. Boy, she was pissed about that. Got me in huge trouble, too, and I was grounded for weeks."

Laughing, Katsuya asked, "How old were you?"

"I dunno. Fourteen, I think."

"Shit, you and your sis are a riot. Well…" Katsuya sighed and decided to trust Honda. He didn't know what else to do and he really needed his friends. "Fine, you pass."

"Uh, great? So we can get going now? I hate this place."

"I know what you mean. But I just gotta look for Kaiba first, he shouldn't be far..."

"No."

Katsuya started at the firm response. "Honestly, Hond', I need to find him. I can't just abandon him here!"

"It's too dangerous to stay any longer than we already have. Sorry, man, but he can find his own way out. We have to go."

Before he could protest any further, Honda pulled him towards the door. It didn't feel right to leave without Kaiba, especially after what they'd already been through together, but maybe Honda was right. Kaiba was the smartest guy Katsuya knew, so he had probably already discovered how to get back to the real world and it would be dumb to stumble around blindly looking for him.

They walked out of the sitting room and into a hallway that stretched on forever in both directions. It was dimly lit by wall lamps and felt chillier than the room they had exited. Honda turned left and Katsuya followed without comment, although a shiver of trepidation travelled up his spine when he saw how dark the end of the hall was. As they got closer, Katsuya realized the darkness was not normal; it appeared to be moving, _writhing_. When the smell of decomposing corpses drifted to his nose, Katsuya gasped and planted his feet firmly on the carpet, refusing to budge another inch.

"Wait! Hond'!"

"What?"

The other man turned to look at him, his darker eyes not showing even a hint of the fear that Katsuya felt for what was ahead. The stench grew stronger and a whisper of sound that was like the rustle of wind through leafless branches floated towards them.

"It's the thing that was chasing me and Kaiba! We can't go that way!" Katsuya pulled away, ready to run, but failed to throw off Honda's strong grip.

"But that's the way we _have_ to go. It's the way home, Jou."

"Are you _crazy_? That fuckin' monster tried to kill us!"

"Hey, trust me, remember? The only way to see the others again is to go through that. They're just on the other side." Honda grinned confidently and took a step closer to the darkness. "I know it looks bad, but can't you hear them?"

Katsuya stopped struggling when he noticed that it wasn't the sound of wind he was hearing, but the voices of his friends. The whisper of Yugi's gentle voice calling out for him, along with his sister's desperate cries, and even Anzu, Bakura and Otogi. Everyone he cared about and they were so close, just within the pitch black entity that filled the end of the hall. It sent a shot of longing and relief through him to know that they were all right.

He unconsciously began to follow Honda again, step by step closing the distance between him and the awaiting monster, but he hardly cared, too caught up in the anticipation of seeing his friends again. If Honda said that this was the only way, then it _had_ to be true.

Before long they were standing just in front of the turbulent darkness that gave off such an offensive odour that Katsuya gagged and fought not to throw up. His heart pounded as he stared into the darkness, wondering if he'd be able to go through with this.

Honda let go of his hand and touched his back. "Ready?"

"I… Y-yeah, I guess." Katsuya shakily inhaled, trying to prepare himself. Just one more step – one more and this nightmare would be over.

_Please let it be over._

With Honda at his side, he took that final step and walked straight in – and ran into a wall of ice that stole his breath away and froze his insides solid. At that moment he knew he'd chosen the wrong path. He was blind and a billion needles pierced his skin, the pain beyond anything he'd ever experienced, even after the fall from the top of Kaiba Corp. Katsuya tried to scream, to fight, to turn back, but he couldn't. He _couldn't._ He had no breath for it. And then he began to turn numb, starting at his toes and ever so slowly spreading up his legs. He had a hunch that when it reached his heart, that would be it. Game over. There would be no escape after that.

_I'm dying! _

_Help! _

_Somebody! Help me!_

The numbness reached his waist. It was no use. He gave up resisting and instead wished it would just hurry up and chase away the knife-like cold.

_Kaiba… oh gods, you were right all along 'bout how stupid I am. I'm such an idiot._

All feeling disappeared from his stomach and lower chest. The thumping of his heart was like a drum in his ears, with the pause between beats becoming longer and longer every second.

_...don't want to die yet…_

If he disappeared, he would no longer be able to protect Yugi from bullies or spend a lazy afternoon at Honda's place, chatting about girls, future plans, motorcycles and everything else under the sun. There would be no one to take Shizuka to their favourite beach or to make her every-topping banana splits whenever she visited Domino. And his dad…

_What'll Dad do without me to make sure he's eating right and doing well at his job? He'll turn to booze again for sure and drink himself to his grave._

_I _can't_ die… _

Through half-closed eyes he noticed a pinpoint of light in the dark and unconsciously reached towards it. His arm felt like lead but he forced it to stretch out as far as it would go, trying to touch the sparkle with his fingers.

_Not yet…_

He reached.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_I just thought I'd stop by to say 'hi.' It's been a while."_

"_How much?"_

"_Um… how much what?"_

"_Money. How much do you need, mutt? You wouldn't be here unless—"_

"_I'm not here for your money! I don't want anything from you! I just—"_

"_Just what? Thought you would barge in and interrupt my work just for the fun of it?"_

"_Fuck you. I don't even know _why_ I bothered to… Huh? H-hey, wh-what's going on?"_

"_Shit, we need to get out of here. This is—!"_

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
><em>

And _reached…_

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
><em>

"_Kaiba! Oh fuck, are you okay?"_

"_Don't come any closer. Just go!"_

"_The hell I will! Hold on, I'm—"_

"_Get out! Listen to me—"_

"_No, I'm not leaving you!"_

"_You idiot! Shit, just get out of here before—"_

"_No. NO!"_

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
><em>

…until the next thing he knew, he was lying on a hard, carpeted floor, coughing and gasping for air. There was an immense weight crushing his chest, preventing oxygen from entering his lungs. Curling into a ball, he continued to wheeze with his eyes squeezed shut and hands clutching his chest. His body shook uncontrollably, still overwhelmed by the deathly chill. It felt like he'd never be warm again.

Through the fog of fear and panic, Katsuya heard his name being shouted. At least he thought it was his name, as garbled and far-away as it sounded. He tried to answer but only managed a quiet, high-pitched whine. A person was leaning over him and maybe even touching him but he couldn't feel anything beyond a faint pressure on his shoulders. He coughed weakly, beginning to lose consciousness.

_It'll be nice to sleep anyway, an' maybe when I wake up, I'll be at home, in my own warm bed, remembering all this as a bad dream that'll fade away like it never happened. I'll go see Kaiba at his office and let him laugh at my silly imagination. Then we'll hug and…_

Someone was forcing him to uncurl, pressing him to the floor, flat on his back. He didn't – couldn't – fight it. A new pressure was on his mouth now. Shivering hard, he was only vaguely aware of his mouth being pried open and his head tilted back. And then air, sweet, life-giving air rushed in and filled his lungs, again and again until he was able to take a deep breath on his own. He was still shaking, still unable to feel much, but at least he could breathe and that was one thing to be thankful for.

"You idiot! You goddamn, crazy ignoramus!"

Katsuya attempted to curl up again but was thwarted by two strong arms that lifted him up against something not as hard as the floor and, more importantly, not as cold. Immediately he latched onto the source of heat, pressing his body against it, so desperate to stop feeling like he was caught naked in a blizzard in the Antarctic. Warmth surrounded him as what felt like Kaiba's trench coat settled over him, but he was afraid that it would not be enough. He felt frozen to his very core.

"Damn fool. Why do you always rush into things without thinking it through first? You walked straight into that atrocity!"

"N-no… H-H-Honda…"

"_Honda_?"

Pressing his face against the soft skin of the other's neck, Katsuya gratefully inhaled the scent of expensive cologne to replace the memory of the disgusting odour from before. Armani Code, he recalled dreamily, remembering the time he'd come across the same cologne and discovered its name at a duty free store in the airport on a class trip to Singapore. He'd recognized it immediately as the one Kaiba normally wore and had sprayed some on the back of his hand. He hadn't been able to stop sniffing it until the scent wore off a day later.

"…hallucinating?"

"Nn?" Oh, Kaiba was still talking. He was probably supposed to be paying attention, but it was so hard to concentrate. "Asked… didn't know 'bout… gol'fish…"

"Well, you _must_ have known about whatever he said about goldfish, because I can assure you that that fin-headed monkey did not truly just show up and guide you to your death! You were hallucinating, plain and simple."

"No, I…"

A thought niggled at the back of Katsuya's mind, interrupting his weak protest. He frowned and struggled to recall what it was that was nagging him. There was something… something about a puppy and a fish… a long time ago…

Then, in a flash, it came back to him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_He is fourteen years old and in a pet shop watching a tiny puppy race in hyper excitement around its cage. He saw it through the store window and, although he didn't care much for animals and even threw empty cans at the strays that hung around in the alleys near his home, he'd decided to go in and have a look at this young mutt. It's kind of cute, he decides, poking his fingers through the bars of the cage for the puppy to lick. It does so with so much enthusiasm that it makes Katsuya grin and laugh. _

_The bells above the shop door jingles, startling Katsuya and making him glance over his shoulder suspiciously. He's still avoiding the cops after he and a couple of others from his gang stole some food from a Family Mart across town. It's not a cop, however, but a girl who is older than him. She notices him and comes over with a smile._

"_Hi, Jou-chan! What are you doing in here?" The young woman says cheerfully._

_Katsuya glares. He hates it that she always calls him 'Jou-chan.' She could at the very least address him using '-kun.'_

"_Nothin'," he answers sullenly. He might not like her much, but she _is_ Honda's sister, after all, so he has to show some respect._

"_Ooh, he's adorable!" She exclaims as she notices the puppy. "Are you thinking of getting one?"_

"_No." Katsuya scuffs his shoe on the floor, wishing she'd just go away and leave him alone already._

"_I don't blame you. They're cute at this age, but then they grow up into big, slobbery beasts like Blankey. Ugh. I prefer small animals, like birds and fish."_

"_Yeah?" Geeze, she won't shut up. Girls._

_The young woman nods and points to a glass goldfish bowl on a nearby counter. "I had one of those once, named Goldy, until my stupid brother flushed it down the toilet. Just because he was mad that I ate the pudding he was saving in the fridge, can you believe that? He got grounded for weeks for that stunt, though!"_

"_Huh. Well, I gotta go." Katsuya forces a smile and edges towards the door. "It's been nice chattin' with ya an' all." _

_Not._

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-  
><em>

"Oh." Coming out of a memory-induced daze, Katsuya winced. "Right…"

It was just that it had been such a small, forgettable moment in his young life. He'd put the whole thing behind him the moment he'd left the pet store, never once imagining that it would ever be important enough in the future to care about.

"Numbskull."

"Mnh…" Darn, that was supposed to have been a great comeback.

"We'll stay here until you feel up to walking," Kaiba said, tightening his arms around Katsuya and relaxing against the wall.

Katsuya mumbled in agreement. There was no way he could even stand up right now, much less walk anywhere. Besides, it was wonderful enough in Kaiba's arms that he wasn't too keen on leaving any time soon. He snuggled down between the other's chest and the coat draped over them, praying that the heat from both would soon penetrate beyond the surface of his skin.

"Before I pulled you out, did you hear anything?" Kaiba asked suddenly, his deep voice low and brooding.

There had been no noise inside the darkness, only impenetrable silence. No sound, no voices, nothing. Katsuya had never felt more alone. He opened his mouth to say just that, when it occurred to him what Kaiba must have been talking about.

"_Fuck you. I don't even know _why_ I bothered to… Huh? H-hey, wh-what's going on?"_

"_Shit, we need to get out of here. This is—!"_

"Me 'n you?" Although he was deeply tired, he blinked his eyes open and forced himself to focus. His eyelids felt like lead and his mind was filled with cotton wool. He sighed in pleasure when long, thin fingers massaged the back of his neck before threading into his hair where they rubbed his scalp in a soothing manner.

"That's right. I believe it must have been a memory of what happened to us before this."

"Somethin' happened?"

"Yes, of course. If only we could recall exactly what it was. It may help," Kaiba said, frustration evident in his tone.

Katsuya mumbled something, even he wasn't sure what, and finally gave in and let his heavy eyelids drop. With Kaiba's fingers running through his hair and the strong, steady beat of Kaiba's heart beneath his ear, he felt safe enough to drift asleep. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was the deep hum of Kaiba speculating aloud on what catastrophic event might have caused them to be thrown into this lonely, dark version of Earth.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Seto's POV of what was happening to him in the mansion coming up next! Getting near to the end now, a few more chapters (plus epilogues). Thanks for sticking with it so far!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 6: Kaiba's Predicament

Seto wasn't certain how long he had been walking blindly through his home in search of the staircase that should have been just to the right of the foyer not more than ten steps away, when he realized that the hand grasping firmly onto his own belonged to someone other than Jounouchi. The fingers had become too thick and rough, the hand that of a much larger and older man than the lean, young duelist. Reacting on instinct, Seto tightened his grip and jerked the stranger toward him, at the same time pivoting to aim his free hand at where he estimated the other's throat to be. He met with only thin air, causing him to stumble and curse before turning again to crouch in a defensive position. No retaliation followed and, although he strained his ears and kept his breathing controlled and shallow, he detected no sounds to give away the other's location.

"Are you such a coward you need to hide in the dark rather than face me head on?" he finally ground out, his patience reaching its limit. He did not appreciate games like this one bit.

_And where the hell's Jounouchi gotten to?_

A deep, unpleasant chuckle drifted through the gloom in response, creating a shiver of revulsion up Seto's spine. "There is a difference between hiding in the dark and being a part of it. But you know that well, don't you, my dear Seto."

It was a shock to hear that voice again – the voice of a dead man.

"_Gozaburo_," Seto spat out, his spine stiffening and fists clenching. Disgust and cold fury swept through him as he realized he had been holding _hands_ with the one man he despised more than anyone on the planet – his adoptive father.

"Very good, boy. You are as sharp as ever."

There was a snap of fingers and then harsh light flooded the room. Seto didn't flinch from the sting of his eyes adjusting to the sudden change. He glared at the man who stood several metres from him, while some part of him noted that they were still at the entrance where Jounouchi and he had started from. Gozaburo looked exactly the same as the last time Seto had seen him, moments before the man had smashed through the window on the top floor of Kaiba Corp and fallen to his death. He was a large man – not overweight, but muscular and broad-shouldered, like a commanding officer in the military. Thick eyebrows, a well-kept moustache, and short hair with only hints of a receding hairline all gleamed silver-grey in the light of the wall-lamps. He was wearing his favourite double-breasted red suit with a white collared shirt and black tie underneath. Although not an ugly man by most definitions, the very sight of him made Seto want to vomit, and then claw out those cold, judging eyes.

"Mind you, I'm not pleased about what you did to my company," Gozaburo continued as though he didn't notice the murderous gaze of his adopted son. "But at least you did it well and with style. A tremendous achievement that befits a Kaiba heir."

Praise from _him_. Seto shuddered internally, remembering a time when he had craved and willingly bled for that approval. Now it just sickened him. "Get the fuck out of my mind. You're not even here, but in hell where you cannot touch me or my brother ever again. I hope you are burning for everything you did to us."

One corner of Gozaburo's mouth lifted, the hairy-caterpillar moustache twitching above it. "Well, of course I'm all in your mind, genius. Nobody could have survived that fall. However…"

In the blink of an eye he was gone and then reappeared inches from Seto's face. The older man, his expression now ugly with malice, shot out an arm and grabbed Seto by the neck. His grip was like an iron claw, fingers wrapped almost entirely around the pale column of flesh. Seto choked and fought for air, clutching at the other's fist in a weak attempt to tear it away.

"However, that does not make me any less dangerous." Gozaburo's teeth clenched in a feral grin before he lifted Seto up off his feet and threw him to the floor.

Seto slid a few metres across the polished marble and lay there helplessly for a moment, gasping and blinking away the spots that threatened to blacken his vision. As soon as he was able, he gathered his feet under him and rose up again, refusing to submit in any form. He was shaken, however, by the fact that Gozaburo, a mere hallucination, could in reality harm him.

Warier now, but not about to back down, Seto rasped, "What the fuck do you want?"

His adopted father only appeared amused by Seto's icy tone and determination to stand up to him. "Why rush to the point? We have so much to catch up on, my _son_. Tell me, how is little Mokuba doing these days?"

Seto refused to be goaded into losing his temper. Instead, he stood his ground and held his glare steady; but he was finding it difficult to control his breathing. The monster in front of him had _no_ right to speak of his brother.

"Hm, it's unusual to find you alone without the whelp attached to your hip. Where could he be… ah." Gozaburo's grin turned smug. "I suppose he's lying down to recover after his harrowing experience with the darker side of humanity."

"That wasn't real," Seto blurted out before he could stop himself, unconsciously repeating what Jounouchi had said to reassure him at the time. A shot of pain lanced his heart as he unwillingly recalled how Mokuba had lain across the cold, stone floor, bruises and cuts covering every inch of his abnormally pale skin, while the man who had broken him stood over him and laughed. Even then, Mokuba had pleaded for his big brother to save him, his voice hoarse and nearly gone.

"Wasn't it?"

"No." He was confident that Jounouchi had not lied to him. Mokuba was fine, wherever he was.

"Perhaps not. But can you be one hundred percent certain? Would you bet a life on it?"

That gave him a pause. Not "_your"_ life, but "_a"_ life. "What are you getting at, old man?"

To Seto's frustration, he received no direct reply. Instead, Gozaburo reached into the inner breast pocket of his jacket and withdrew a fat cigar. His gaze never wavering from Seto's, he raised the cigar as though in mock salute and slipped it between his lips but didn't move to light it. The expression on his face was the same one he had often worn in the past when assessing whether Seto was up to a challenge. The consequences of losing one of his challenges were never painless.

Gozaburo bared his teeth after a moment and turned away. Seto only hesitated for half a second before following at a safe distance. He wasn't about to let the other out of his sight.

They went through a door that should have opened into the dining room but instead had them stepping into the middle of an unfamiliar hallway. The only light was from a single wall lamp opposite the door, a small yellow pool that was cut off by shadow after half a metre to the left and right. Seto was careful to remain close to the door so as to have an easy escape if necessary.

The old man turned to face him. "Well, well. It appears you have come to a fork in the road. Which way will you choose to go from here? That is the question."

Crossing his arms, Seto glanced up and down the hallway before meeting Gozaburo's eyes again. He snorted and said, "Neither direction appears particularly enticing."

"No? Ah, well, let me shed some light on the matter then."

The man raised his left arm in one, dramatic motion and swept it towards the corridor that was on Seto's right hand side. The darkness was at once chased away by multiple lamps along both walls lighting up until, at the end, a closed door was revealed. It was a plain wooden door, stained black, but the cracks around its edges glowed with a softer, bluer light that seeped through from the other side. Seto narrowed his eyes but made no move towards it.

"To your right, a way out. It will take you away from this place and into the arms of your precious brother. He has been waiting a long time to see you again. Haven't you, Mokuba?" Gozaburo grinned, his sharp eyes focused on Seto's face.

Seto watched with some trepidation as the door slowly swung open. He wasn't sure what to expect, but it was not to see Mokuba staring back at him from the other side with a look of surprise and hope that mirrored Seto's own carefully hidden feelings. The younger boy was fully clothed and appeared unharmed, despite what Seto had been forced to witness earlier. In fact, he appeared healthier and more vibrantly alive than ever. His wide, grey eyes shone with unshed tears and he reached out a hand towards his older brother only to have his palm and fingers press and flatten against an invisible barrier. It reminded Seto of the time he was trapped outside the bedroom in the game shop while Jounouchi faced a nightmare of his own inside.

"Mokuba…" Seto whispered, but in his mind he was frantically calculating the odds as to whether this was truly his brother or just another illusion. He watched as Mokuba began to mouth his name and attempt to push through the barrier, but it did not give way.

"Old man," Seto said with a growl, turning to face Gozaburo. "What the hell kind of game are you playing at?"

Gozaburo was clearly enjoying himself, a self-satisfied smirk causing the wrinkles under his eyes to deepen. "Do you not want to go to the poor boy? He has missed you so much and I'm sure you have been worried to death about him."

"As if I would ever trust you. That is surely not my brother or the way out. I have had enough of this nonsense, so find somebody else to play mind games with." Seto turned his back on the man with the intention of leaving the way they had come in. He would find Jounouchi and escape this mad place without that monster's help.

"I assure you, it most definitely is the genuine and only exit that allows you to leave alive and in one piece."

The tone Gozaburo used caused Seto to freeze. He knew his adoptive father well; he had observed him negotiate, cut deals, bribe, bring men to their knees and cause businesses to collapse, and do anything to get what he desired. There were times, Seto had been taught, for honesty and times for lies. And now, after studying Gozaburo closely, he realized the other man was telling the truth, or at least in part.

"What do you mean, the only one that allows me to leave alive? There are others?" Seto asked, glancing again at Mokuba. The youngest Kaiba was staring back with a worried frown, still silently calling his brother's name.

"Of course, let me show you a second option," Gozaburo said, raising his right arm this time and flinging it in the opposite direction from Mokuba and the door.

The darkness to Seto's left receded in the same manner as before and revealed…

"Jounouchi!"

The golden head of hair was unmistakable. The younger man was standing still in the hallway. His mouth was moving and he appeared to be talking to thin air, but it was the sight of what was in front of Jounouchi that caused Seto's heart to skip a beat and fists to clench at his sides.

"That… that is the other exit?"

"Correct. It is a way out."

"But he will die." It was not a question.

"Yes, and it will be a very, _very_ painful death."

Seto swallowed against a suddenly tight throat when he saw Jounouchi take a timid step closer to the darkness. He forced himself to look back at Mokuba, his heart aching at thought of his brother alone and scared, waiting for Seto to go to him. The game Gozaburo was forcing him to play was now obvious. Mokuba or Jounouchi. To leave his brother alone or his… friend to die.

"One more thing," Gozaburo added with a malicious twist to his lips. "Once you make your choice and move in that direction, the other way will be closed to you forever. No second chances."

_Meaning I cannot go grab Jounouchi and then drag him out to where Mokuba is._

It really should not have been a difficult decision. Mokuba was and had always been the most important person in Seto's life. If this choice had been thrust upon him before or just after meeting Jounouchi at the beginning of their adventure, he would not have thought twice about turning his back on the idiotic blond. But now he hesitated.

"Jounouchi!" he finally thought to call out. The desperation in his own voice startled him.

"He can't hear you."

There was not enough time to think this through as carefully as he would have liked – Jounouchi looked about ready to step into the darkness and the door to Mokuba could shut at any moment.

_I have to choose Mokuba. He's too young to fend for himself and take over my position as CEO of Kaiba Corp._

But that meant leaving Jounouchi to his fate.

_Good riddance. He's nothing but a nuisance, a pest. He is too…_

Loyal. Good-hearted. Warm.

_But he does not need me. Not like Mokuba does. I didn't see much of Jounouchi after high school, so nothing will change if I leave here without him._

But he had grown closer to Jounouchi than he had ever thought possible. He didn't think that he could go on as though none of it had happened and pretend that Jounouchi had never existed.

Seto's breathing turned harsh while his mind furiously weighed pros and cons, calculating the most beneficial path to take. He tried to ignore his personal _desires_, and _needs_, and the horrible feeling of guilt that pierced him every time he thought about walking away from Jounouchi.

And then he was forced to watch as Jounouchi took that final step. Almost in slow motion, he entered the wall of darkness and disappeared from sight.

An unconscious, frantic cry tore itself from Seto's throat. His upper body jerked in the direction Jounouchi had been, but his feet remained planted to the ground as though they had been cemented there. Pitiless, cruel laughter roared in his ears, mocking his indecisiveness.

_I don't know what to do!_ The pain of that admission almost overwhelmed him. _What do I do?_

He stared at where Jounouchi had vanished and then at the doorway where Mokuba met his gaze. The younger Kaiba was beating his small fists against the barrier and crying, clearly frightened that his brother was about to leave him.

"_I'm fine, 'niisama."_

"Mokuba," Seto gasped, startled. The words his brother spoke formed directly in his head and were out of sync with the boy's frantically moving lips.

"_It's okay. Please don't worry about me."_ The tone was soothing and only wavered slightly with emotion but not with the screaming sobs of the Mokuba on the other side of the door.

"What do you mean? Mokuba?"

"_Help Jounouchi. I think he's depending on you right now. Don't let him die. Please, Seto. I can wait a little longer."_

Seto shook his head. "I can't. I can't leave you."

"_You'll come back to me when you're able to. I believe in you, Seto."_

The unconditional trust and love in his brother's voice was unmistakeable. It made Seto realize just how much Mokuba had matured. His dear baby brother was all grown up. A lump formed in his throat, but he quickly swallowed and took a deep breath, straightening his shoulders and raising his chin.

"I _will_ find you again, Mokuba."

He looked at Gozaburo, meeting the other's glare with a resolute nod. "I have chosen."

"Abandoning your brother, Seto? How loyal of you. Then again, I suppose you _were_ always quick to shove him aside when he got in the way of your personal desires."

"You've been dead a long time, old man. Things have changed drastically since then. The darkness was expelled from me by a certain annoying midget and my heart is whole again."

"You're going the wrong way!" Gozaburo shrieked at Seto's retreating back. "You'll die! Your brother will hate you, you fucking coward! There's no way out for you anymore– Seto! You hear me? You'll regret this!"

Blocking out the ghost's insane howls, Seto picked up his pace until his quick steps turned into a full out sprint. He had a feeling that they were almost out of time. The dark, writhing thing grew larger and larger as he approached. It was pitch black and opaque – he couldn't see Jounouchi at all.

_Is it too late? Have I already lost him?_

Seto didn't hesitate when he finally stopped inches away, but plunged his arm in.

And _reached._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The shivers had finally stopped, but whether from warming up or only out of fatigue was uncertain. The unnaturally pale skin was still ice cold to the touch, however. Seto gazed down at the tangle of golden-blond hair hiding the face that was pressed against his chest. He lifted the fingers of his free hand, the one that wasn't curled tightly around the other's shoulders, and brushed some of the strands out of the way. Jounouchi's eyes were closed and there was no sign of the light tan that normally graced his skin, but Seto was pleased to note that the blue tint had disappeared from his lips.

_He's alive, but it was a close call. Much too close. A minute later and…_

It would have been too late. Seto touched one of Jounouchi's cheeks lightly but the unconscious man didn't react. Dead to the world. An ironic smile lifted Seto's lips as he let his hand drop down to Jounouchi's neck, feeling the faint but steady pulse there.

"You attract trouble like honey does bees," he muttered. His fingers remained on the pulse point while he pulled his eyes away from the blond in his lap to check out their surroundings. The corridor was quiet and there was no sign of Gozaburo or anybody else lurking in the dim shadows. It appeared they were safe for the moment, at least. But he knew they should move on soon.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He glanced left and then right again, studying the two directions for any clue of which way to go. They appeared to be identical, but instinct was telling him to take the right-hand option. Perhaps the shadows were slightly lighter.

"Jounouchi." He had to repeat himself twice more before he got a reaction from the shorter man who was leaning heavily against his shoulder.

"Nn?"

Seto tightened the arm he had around Jounouchi's waist, pulling him closer and helping to keep him on his feet. The shaking blond looked ready to fall back asleep right there on his feet. "Are you positive you can walk?"

"…yeah, think so. Jus' c-cold 'nd…"

"And what?"

Jounouchi shook his head, then looked as though he regretted the movement as his legs almost gave out on him. One of his hands grasped Seto's forearm, while the other clenched a fistful of the back of Seto's black turtleneck.

It was worrying how weak and chilled Jounouchi still was. He had slept for at least an hour, and yet his condition did not seem to have improved much. Seto wondered what had happened to Jounouchi in the darkness and if permanent damage had been done. The sooner they figured the way out and got him some help, the better.

"Let me know if you need a break, but it's best if we can keep moving for as long as possible," Seto said as he manoeuvred them down the hall, deciding to trust his gut feeling and go right after all.

"'kay."

They proceeded down the corridor, but it was slow going. Jounouchi seemed to be in a daze and would barely respond to Seto's occasional queries. Side corridors and forks appeared. At first Seto ignored them and remained on the same straight path. Eventually they came to a dead end, however, and were forced to back track to the last left turn they had passed. It continued on that way – more dead ends and many more turns. It never ended.

"This isn't my mansion. It's a maze," Seto muttered at one point.

They came to another fork and Seto paused, glaring one way and then the other in frustration. He nudged Jounouchi, but the other man didn't have the breath to do anything more than pant, his breaths sounding wheezy.

"Damn." Seto ran his fingers through his hair, wondering what to do next. It was obvious they couldn't keep doing this for much longer. Then he felt Jounouchi twitch and raise his head with some effort from where it had been lolling on Seto's shoulder. "What? Do you need to sit down?"

Jounouchi didn't appear to hear him. "Yug'."

Startled, Seto turned his head for a closer look at Jounouchi's expression. The blond was staring ahead, his eyes wide and unexpectedly alert. "Jounouchi, Yugi is not –"

"Straight. We need to go s-straight, Seto," Jounouchi said, not meeting Seto's inquiring gaze.

"We can't," Seto replied slowly. "We're at a T-intersection. There's only a blank wall ahead."

"Go straight."

"Jounouchi, you're hallucinating. We might as well rest for awhile since we don't seem to be getting anywhere." He shifted Jounouchi, preparing to help him down onto the floor, but Jounouchi resisted and continued to cling to him.

"Please, Seto, listen t'me. Don't wanna be stuck wandering 'round here forever."

Seto didn't want to listen to Jounouchi who was clearly delusional; however, he couldn't help but examine the stone wall that the other insisted they go through. It appeared solid enough. No door or cracks or any other sign that it would allow a path through it.

Then again, stranger things had already happened to them. If Jounouchi insisted they could walk through walls, Seto couldn't very well say otherwise considering he'd already seen Jounouchi recover from a fatal knife wound without a scratch, survived a jump off of Kaiba Corp, and spoke with Gozaburo's ghost. He relented with a weary sigh and hefted Jounouchi's arm more securely over his shoulders.

"Fine, we'll try it your way and when it doesn't work, you'll sit down and take a damn nap until you're sane again."

He felt he should have been more shocked when they stepped forward and passed through the wall as though it were made of smoke, but all in all, it was a truly miniscule addition to the insanity. They stopped on the other side in another hallway identical to the one they'd just exited.

"Now what?"

Jounouchi said, "Straight." And so they continued to drag themselves in that direction, passing through several more walls which posed as no barrier against their progress.

"I have some new theories," Seto said as they limped forward. He spoke aloud mainly to help keep Jounouchi awake as he looked like he was fading again. "It's likely I was drugged by another lunatic looking to ruin me or my company. There could easily be a drug that causes such delirium."

"Hm, but… What 'bout me?"

"You are part of my delusion, obviously."

"Th-thought we already settled we're both real."

Seto frowned and said, "Yes, but _nothing_ can explain that. Unless this is the end of the world created by some disaster, but even then I wouldn't imagine there'd be ghosts of our loved ones and enemies flitting around to lure us to our deaths."

"Gas leaks?"

"Hn, I guess that could cause hallucin—"

A pale, wavering light up ahead caught his eye, causing him to lose his trail of thought. He squinted, trying to spot the source, but it was too distant.

"See that?" he said, quickening his pace as much as possible without causing them both to stumble.

Somehow Jounouchi managed to keep up, but there was confusion in his voice when he asked, "What?"

"That light. It might be nothing, but it's worth investigating."

Jounouchi made a sound in the back of his throat but said nothing else while they hurried towards the end of the hall. As it came closer, Seto could make out a door set in the stone. It was cracked open and bright yellow light was filtering through from the other side. He stopped a few feet away and examined it carefully.

"A… a door," Jounouchi said, his eyes wide with surprise as though he'd just noticed it.

Seto nodded distractedly. There didn't appear to be anything dangerous about the entrance or exit, whichever it was. It reminded him of the door Mokuba had been standing in, but compared of the eerie blue light, it felt more welcoming this time. Inviting.

"Kaiba…"

"We could take a peek through it and check for the light source. If anything looks wrong, we'll walk away." He took a couple of steps closer to the portal, but was forced to stop when Jounouchi dug in his heels and tried to hang back. "What, you're not scared of this after everything else that's happened, are you?"

Jounouchi was biting his lip and staring at the door with an agitated expression. "The door… i-it's open?"

"Are you blind?" Seto said, wondering what had gotten into the other man. "Now move it before it disappears or something." He wasn't sure why he wanted to check through the doorway so badly, but there was definitely a growing desire to do so. It felt right, almost like the light was calling to him. It was so bright and warm. He managed to drag Jounouchi to the threshold before the other man resisted again.

"W-wait, Kaiba. It's… I can't…"

It was too bright to see anything through the crack. For some reason, however, his heartbeat sped up with unreasonable anticipation. He couldn't even tear his eyes away to look back at Jounouchi, but said with more than a little frustration, "I trusted you when you said to go straight, now it's your turn to trust me. This is the way out, I'm certain of it. Nothing about this damned place has called to me so strongly."

"I… I get it. But I can't go with you."

The broken whisper was what snapped the hypnotic hold the light seemed to have on Seto. He whipped around to look at the other and was startled to find Jounouchi's eyes filled with tears. "What do you mean? Of course you can. I'm not just going to leave you here. If you're feeling sick, we'll rest on the other side."

"N-no." Jounouchi shook his head and sniffed. A tear finally escaped, hanging on his lower lashes before dripping to his cheek. "Sorry. I screwed up. A-and after we came so far. I… I'm a fuckin' loser after all."

"I don't understand." Still frowning, Seto tried to tug the other closer to him, but Jounouchi shook him off.

"S'alright. Jus' remember, it's my fault. Not yours. Forget about me and look after your little bro, yeah?"

That's it. Jounouchi had gone off the deep end, but if he thought Seto was going to turn his back and go on alone… Seto clenched his teeth. No way. Jounouchi was _his_ now and therefore had no choice in the matter. He opened his mouth to tell the crazy third-rate duelist just that, but instead almost bit his tongue when Jounouchi moved forward on his own and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I'll miss ya, Seto. Goodbye."

He didn't have time to get over the shock of hearing Jounouchi call him by his first name because after the whispered words came a hard shove to his chest and suddenly he was falling backwards. His shoulder blades hit the door, which flew completely open, and his flailing hands failed to grasp the door frame.

Jounouchi's saddened honey-brown eyes and pale face was the last thing Seto saw before the light closed in and blinded him with its brilliance.

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 7: Kaiba's Awakening

The light was sharp, piercing needles that stabbed and blinded his eyes. Noises filtered through it – high-pitched beeps, the steady hum of electronic equipment, low voices. It hurt the ears after becoming accustomed to nearly constant silence. The smell, too, of disinfectant was overwhelming. The voices became louder, but while they sounded urgent, they were much too garbled to make sense of.

_Out of one nightmare and into another._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It wasn't so bright the second time Seto cracked open his eyes. The lights had been dimmed and he could make out a shadowy form leaning over him. He thought it was saying something, but his mind was refusing to process anything that complicated. Eventually the blurry shadow retreated, leaving him in peace to try to ponder the situation. He couldn't remember much beyond the moment of waking up – in a bed, apparently, with a firm mattress and light sheets that felt cool against his skin.

While he stared at the white ceiling above him, he realized that he felt oddly disconnected, as though he was having a difficult time accepting what his senses were relaying to his brain. He couldn't tell whether the sights, sounds and smells were real or an illusion. Somehow he expected things to shift if he waited long enough. Worst of all was the hollow feeling within himself, as though something important had been ripped out of him to leave a gaping, empty wound. The painful sense of unknown loss was almost too much to bear, and he closed his eyes again in hopes that he could escape it through sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Although it felt like only a minute had gone by when he opened them again, he could tell that much more time than that had passed. The light had been turned off and the room was in shadow. Seto had never been afraid of the dark before, but somehow it seemed much more menacing now than in the past. Had he been swallowed by the darkness, too? Was it already too late to escape?

"Kaiba?" A sleep-filled voice came from his right.

Letting his head roll to the side, he squinted at the person who'd spoken. His eyes had adjusted a little better, and he could make out enough features to recognize the one who was sitting next to the bed – a short, delicate body, hair arranged in hideous spikes that Seto never believed were natural, abnormally wide eyes blinking against drowsiness and the dimness of the room.

'_Yugi… I was talking to Yugi, and then Atemu…'_

'…_a kn-knife... I couldn't… there was blood. Yugi's…'_

'_Yugi said he couldn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. Makes sense if he was just a figment of my imagination, right?'_

Seto inhaled sharply as the memories threatened to tear apart his aching head. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten in the first place. He's lost Jounouchi _again_.

"Wh-wh-" He struggled to speak but his throat was so dry the words kept getting stuck.

"Oh, Kaiba, you _are_ awake!" Yugi, or at least the apparition of Yugi, stood up and left Seto's field of vision, but returned a moment later and held a cup out. "Here, you must be thirsty. The doctor said you could have some ice chips once you woke up. Anything more than that'd make you sick."

It hit Seto then that he honestly was thirsty. He couldn't recall the last time thirst or hunger had bothered him. Filing away the thought for later analysis, he attempted to reach for the cup but found he wasn't able to lift his hand more than an inch from the mattress before it trembled and dropped again. He was as weak as a newborn kitten.

Yugi noticed and brought the rim to Seto's mouth. "The weakness is only temporary," Yugi said, as though reading Seto's mind, and tipped the cup to allow some of the ice to slip into between Seto's lips. "After you get some real food into you and some exercise, you'll feel as good as new."

The chips of ice landed on his tongue and he let them melt in the heat of his mouth. The cool dribbles of water slipped down and moistened his throat.

"Where's Jounouchi? What'd you do with him?" he demanded, although his voice was rough and he could hardly speak above a whisper.

Yugi's shadowy form settled back in the chair. "Kaiba," he said hesitantly, "do you remember what, um, happened?"

_An old, abandoned orphanage; the children long gone, either to loving homes or the merciless streets. The creak of the set as a weight is added to the swing next to his._

'_How did you find me here?'_

'_I, er, followed the yellow brick road?'_

Remembering made the headache ten times worse. "Damn it, mutt, you were the one who said we needed to stay together," Seto growled. He wondered if Yugi's Other Self, the so-called pharaoh, was going to appear as he had for Jounouchi.

"You're in the hospital, Kaiba. You and… and J-Jounouchi."

"Shut up," Seto hoarsely snapped, focusing on getting his muscles to work and limbs to cooperate rather than the other's meaningless words. "If Gozaburo couldn't best me, you sure as hell won't. I'll get out of here one way or another and save Jounouchi from whatever trouble he's gotten himself into this time."

Placing his hands on the edge of the mattress, Yugi leaned forward but jumped back a bit when Seto managed to swing one of his arms at him. "K-Kaiba! Calm down. You're confused and you'll end up hurting yourself if you keep flailing like that!"

"Don't touch me."

"But Kaiba…"

When was this horrible nightmare going to end? He tried to sit up, but Yugi was there gently, yet firmly pushing his shoulders down. It was humiliating to find out he wasn't even strong enough to fight back.

"Please, Kaiba! I'll have to call a nurse in if you don't stop this!"

"Tell me where Jounouchi is, then!"

"He's right beside you!"

Seto fell limp, staring in blank confusion up at Yugi's concerned face. After a few seconds of utter silence, Yugi placed his palm on Seto's forehead and slowly turned it to the left. Another bed came into view, pushed up against Seto's own, and on it was another person, so familiar and yet…

"No," Seto rasped, "No, that's not him."

"It is, Kaiba. Th-that's Jou."

The man, who both looked like Jounouchi and didn't, was lying on his back with the bed sheets pulled up to his chest. He appeared to have lost a lot of weight, almost skin and bones. There was no movement except for a steady rising and falling of his chest. He wasn't breathing on his own, however. In the dimness, Seto could make out a tube emerging from Jounouchi's mouth that would be attached to a medical ventilator, pushing oxygen into the unconscious man's lungs. There were other monitoring wires attached to him and an IV in his arm. He looked so fragile and small, nothing like the man Seto had been travelling with all this time.

"He's been on the ventilator for almost three days now," Yugi said softly. "He… he came very close to dying and the doctor says he probably won't ever w-wake up."

Seto lay quietly, watching the movement of the other's chest. It didn't make sense that Jounouchi was here. He could still feel the warmth of the kiss Jounouchi had placed on his cheek before pushing him through that door.

"You're lying. This is not happening."

"Kaiba, you and Jou-kun have been in a coma for five weeks. You woke up for the first time yesterday, so of course you're disoriented. But this is real, I swear."

Seto squeezed his eyes closed, not wanting to believe any of it. "No, I was with Jounouchi. We were looking for a way out…"

"And you found it, Kaiba. You're out, you're awake. Somehow you were connected with Jou." Yugi sounded like he was on the verge of tears, his words becoming more choked and harder to hear. "W-we couldn't separate you."

"What do you mean?" Seto asked in spite of himself.

"The doctor or nurses sometimes tried to move one of you out of the room for surgery, check-ups or physical therapy. They also wanted to put you in a private room because of your status. Every time they tried, though…"

Cracking open his eyes again, Seto slid his left arm gradually closer to the other bed. "What happened?"

"The one being taken away would start to seize and… and no matter what the doctors did, other things would happen. Jou's h-heart stopped the first time and one of your lungs collapsed when they tried to move you out later. It… it was scary, especially when you'd start screaming for each other. You'd only calm down and the doctors' treatments would only begin to work after they laid you side by side again."

Seto reached a little further and managed to brush his hand against the back of Jounouchi's own.

_He pounded his fists against the bedroom door, trying and failing to get Jounouchi's attention. The other man was kneeling in the middle of the empty room, a long knife in his hands with the blade pointing at his stomach. Kaiba shouted and banged harder, mindless of the bruises that were sure to form later. The other's brown eyes were blank and staring. He raised the knife almost mechanically and then plunged it into his own stomach. Blood poured out… so much of it. Jounouchi's life drained away before Seto's very eyes._

_And then he pulled Jounouchi, who had bravely struggled through a sea of red, through the barrier and they were together again. Unfamiliar relief flooded Seto when he noticed Jounouchi was whole again and alive. There was no wound and Jounouchi was going to be okay. Everything else vanished from Seto's mind except for that one single thought – Jounouchi was not going to die._

He curled his fingers around Jounouchi's wrist, feeling for the pulse. It was there, although faint. Still alive, then. He tightened his grip and said, "A coma. Why… how?"

Yugi sniffed. "An earthquake. Jou was visiting you at your office for some reason when it happened. The… the ceiling came down on you along with a bunch of stuff from the floor above. It took a whole day to dig you out."

This was all information he would never have thought up on his own. It was new to him and therefore he began to reluctantly accept that Yugi was really Yugi and Jounouchi was truly lying there, still unconscious. The flashbacks he and Jounouchi had experienced finally made sense, at least.

"_Fuck you. I don't even know why I bothered to… Huh? H-hey, wh-what's going on?"_

"_Shit, we need to get out of here. This is—!"_

"_Kaiba! Oh fuck, are you okay?"_

"_Don't come any closer. Just go!"_

"_The hell I will! Hold on, I'm—"_

"_Get out! Listen to me—"_

"_No, I'm not leaving you!"_

"_You idiot! Shit, just get out of here before—"_

"_No. NO!"_

Seto frowned, unable to recall anything more than that. He didn't even remember Jounouchi stopping by his office. "How could we have been sharing the same dream?" That was the part he honestly could not figure out.

"I have no idea. Nobody's heard of anything like it before, but there was definitely some bond formed between you two at the time. When they found you guys, Jounouchi was curled around your body, like he was trying to protect you."

_His office in Kaiba Corp tower. Death waiting for them – a black, formless entity that rushed at them and forced them through the window. Jounouchi manoeuvring in an attempt to protect Seto from the impact as they fell. _Somehow they had been reliving the danger of the earthquake, expecting to die at Kaiba Corp as they should have when the ceiling fell on them. They _should_ have died. No wonder that darkness, no, Death had been hunting for them through it all.

"Why didn't he wake up with me, if we were connected?"

"I… I don't know. Jou got worse all of a sudden. Almost like he… he g-gave up. His heart stopped again. They managed to restart it, but… but he won't breathe on his own."

_He watched with his heart in his throat as Jounouchi took that final step into the turbulent darkness. The blond was swallowed and disappeared from sight, and Seto couldn't move to stop him_.

Jounouchi had given up and let himself be pulled in by the darkness. He'd _allowed_ Jounouchi to give up.

"_The door… i-it's open?"_

So the door had been open for him to leave, but had remained closed for Jounouchi who had come too close to death to be able to wake up. Seto gritted his teeth, forcing back unfamiliar guilt and regret. Since when had he started caring so much for another person? But Jounouchi had somehow wriggled his way into Seto's heart and there was no changing that now. There was no way Seto was going to let Jounouchi do that to him and then leave without taking responsibility, either.

"Damn, troublesome mutt."

"Kaiba, what happened while—"

"Where's Mokuba?" Seto interrupted, too exhausted and stressed to explain anything about what he had gone through with Jounouchi in the other 'world'.

"Asleep in the next room. Honda's keeping an eye on him. The three of us haven't left the hospital for more than a couple of hours at a time since you two were admitted. Mokuba persuaded the doctors to let us stay. I think he promised them the donation of a new wing or something."

Seto smiled a little, proud of his younger brother.

"Should I go fetch him?"

"No," Seto said, "let him sleep. I'll talk to him in the morning."

As Yugi settled back in the chair, Seto continued to watch Jounouchi's face. There had to be a way to wake sleeping beauty, although he had a feeling a kiss was too simple an answer this time. He thought about it while massaging Jounouchi's limp wrist between his fingers. Drifting to sleep, he wondered if the next time he opened his eyes, he'd find himself still trapped in the mansion with Jounouchi curled up in his arms. Maybe this was merely another part to the never-ending dream.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was daylight the next time he awoke from a deep, dreamless sleep, and Mokuba was hovering over him. The teenager's smile was a mixture of relief and delight when Seto noticed him.

"Big brother!" Mokuba exclaimed, leaning to hug him.

A little strength had returned and Seto managed to lift his arms high enough to bring them around his brother's shoulders. At first he silently warned himself not to trust what he saw – he wouldn't be able to handle the disappointment if it turned out to be another hallucination – but the solidness and warmth of Mokuba's body as it pressed against his was all too real. Seto pressed his nose into Mokuba's long hair and inhaled deeply the rich, familiar scents of his beloved brother. He never wanted to let go again.

"Seto, oh Seto, I'm so glad you're okay. I thought… I thought you were going to die!" Mokuba sniffled and clung to him.

"Are _you_, Mokuba? Okay, I mean."

Mokuba sniffled again and pulled back a little to look at Seto's face. The younger Kaiba's eyes were red-rimmed and obviously holding back tears. He looked tired but otherwise healthy. "Yeah, I'm alright. Some things fell over in our school during the 'quake, but I hid under the desk like we've always practiced during the drills."

That wasn't what Seto had been referring to, but he nodded and pushed down the memories of a blindfolded, naked and terrified Mokuba screaming for his brother to save him. It was impossible to explain his fears to Mokuba when it apparently had been all in his mind.

"Good. I'm sorry I left you alone for so long."

"Don't apologize, big brother, it wasn't your fault. Besides, I know you were trying real hard to wake up," Mokuba claimed with a small grin. He reached over to the bedside table and snatched up the clear plastic ice cup, except this time there was water in it. "Here, you can have a bit. Don't gulp it, though."

"Yes, Doctor Mokuba," Seto said, smirking at the other's enthusiasm as he took a few small sips of the lukewarm water while Mokuba held the cup. When he was finished, he turned his head to observe Jounouchi, who was in the same position as last night. It was even worse to see him in full light – he was extremely pale and the ventilator plastic tube that entered his trachea was nauseating to look at. Seto placed his hand around Jounouchi's wrist again, feeling for his pulse. It was the only indication that Jounouchi hadn't yet given up completely – that there was still hope.

Eyes on the unconscious blond, Seto asked Mokuba, "How could you be so certain that I was fighting to wake up?"

"You spoke out loud sometimes. Not often, but when you did, it seemed like you could hear me as well. And there was one time when both of you together nearly woke up, but… but Jounouchi was screaming, even Yugi couldn't calm him down, and you were crying and apologizing for something. It was horrible and neither of you seemed to realize you were conscious and… and then you guys left again."

_They were falling. Jounouchi, the fool, was under him and smiling as though he thought Seto should be glad for the chance to live at the cost of the other's life. The ground was rushing nearer and nearer, and then…_

_The air was cold – so cold that it burned his skin and every breath felt like a million glass shards piercing his lungs. It was freezing and there was far too much noise. People shouting, all together, in a strange language. He shouted back, demanding and then pleading for them to be silent, to give him a moment of peace in which to gather his wits. _

"_Big brother! Seto! Can you hear me?"_

_Everything else faded to the background and Seto spun around, searching desperately for the source of the young voice. But it was too bright – he was surrounded by a white light that blinded him and he could make out nothing._

"_Moku—" he started to call back before he remembered. It couldn't be his little brother. Hadn't he already learned his lesson? Back in Kaiba Corp where he had been forced to watch as Mokuba was… was…_

"_Big brother! I'm here, big brother! I'm here!"_

_Seto shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyelids. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you! I couldn't… I couldn't…"_

_And then Jounouchi's voice keened at him through the light-filled emptiness around him. It somehow brought a bit of peace with it, soothing the shame-filled ache in Seto's soul. He at once felt an intense need to feel the warmth that seemed to radiate from the other duelist._

"_Jounouchi."_

"_Kaiba, help, don't leave me here. It hurts, the noise and the fire, and it's too dark and I can't—"_

"_I know. It's all right."_

"_No, no it's not. I don't want to be here. Let's go back, now."_

"_I agree. We cannot remain here. It's too cold."_

"Seto? Did you hear me? What's the matter?"

Seto blinked away the afterimage of the memory, feeling like an idiot. "That was you. I had thought it was a… another hallucination. If I had known that was really your voice, I wouldn't have left."

"I know," Mokuba said, always forgiving when it came to the older brother he looked up to. "It must have been scary for you… both of you. You were with Jounouchi, right?"

"Yes. It was… just us."

The teenager nodded and then leaned over Seto to smooth the covers over Jounouchi's chest and brush an errant bang from his forehead. "He must be so lonely now. And frightened. Poor Jou."

It wasn't until Mokuba said it out loud that it struck Seto that Jounouchi was truly by himself in the strange place where their unconscious minds had taken them. A place where bad things happened to the people they loved and they were helpless to stop it. Only by sticking together were they able to ward off the visions, but now Seto was here and Jounouchi had nobody to protect him.

"It's my fault."

"What?" Mokuba stared at his brother in confusion. "What do you mean? You couldn't have stopped this from happening. The earthquake…"

"No, I mean it is my fault that Jounouchi is still in the coma. It's because I hesitated. If I had gone to him straight away, if I hadn't stood there like an idiot debating what to do, I could have saved him from walking into the darkness." He involuntarily shivered and slid his grip from Jounouchi's wrist to his hand, lacing their fingers together with the vague idea that somehow Jounouchi would be able to feel it and know that he had some support. Jounouchi had risked his own life to save Seto from the falling debris in the earthquake, and multiple times in their linked dream when Seto had been trapped in his hallucination about Mokuba, when they had fallen from the top of Kaiba Corp tower, and when the deafening Echo had been about to overwhelm them; but when it had been Seto's turn to save Jounouchi…

_I fucking let him walk straight into Death's trap. _

"Then… then let's do our best to help him now!"

"What?" Seto tore his gaze away from Jounouchi's impassive face.

Mokuba was wearing a familiar determined expression – his eyebrows lowered and his lips pressed together. "He's not dead yet, big brother. There's still hope, right? Maybe we can help him find his way back to us."

Help him find his way. "How? I don't believe I can go back to where he is."

"You don't have to. You said you could hear my voice, right? If we can get him to hear us and let him know that we are here and that he's not alone…"

"Then he may gain enough strength for the way out to open for him as well," Seto finished, his mind racing with new ideas and possibilities. His brother was right, hope wasn't lost yet.

"Mokuba, find Yugi and whoever it is that's with him. I have a feeling Jounouchi is going to need all of our voices to bring him back."

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>(AN) The awesome reviews from last chapter encouraged me to get this out quickly ;-D Kaiba's POV again to help explain things, but don't worry, Jounouchi's POV will be back next! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter! I hope it all made sense.  
><strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Chapter 8: Jounouchi's Light

He cried out when his back hit the wall and his head rebounded with an audible crack. A meaty fist tightly clenched his shirt's collar and held him almost entirely off the ground, making it difficult to draw in air. Wheezing and choking, Katsuya clawed in vain at the fist that was strangling him while his free arm attempted to protect his stomach from the punches he knew were coming.

He _knew_ exactly where they would land. He _knew _what size and colour the bruises would form and how many ribs would crack as a result.

"D-Dad. S-s-stop!"

"I'll kill ya! Tell me where ya hid m'beer or I'll kill ya!"

_**blink**_

Darkness returned and he was huddled on the floor, alone. The door next to where Kaiba had disappeared remained shut and impassable like it had been from the very start for Katsuya. Breathing hard, he brought a trembling hand up to his throat and let it rest there lightly. All of the hurt and terror he thought he'd left behind him once his father had sobered up for good had come rushing back during the hallucination. It felt so real, even though it had been an attack from years earlier, and he could still feel the bruise that had made it painful to eat for days afterwards.

_**blink**_

Hirutani stepped out of the shadows. In his left hand, he flipped a switchblade open and closed. Open and closed. _Shnick. Shnick._ Each snap of the blade frayed at Katsuya's nerves as he fought not to flinch or show fear. He struggled to stand and defend himself, but the rope that bound his wrists and ankles made it impossible to do so. The street thug, who, rumour had it, was endeavouring to claw his way higher in the ranks of the Yakuza no matter what it took, stepped close to Katsuya and leaned down over him with a gloating grin.

"Shouldn'ta got in my way. I woud'a let you join me, if you'da begged."

Katsuya spat curses against the gag in his mouth, but, for all the show of defiance, he knew he was as helpless as a puppy before his enemy. Hirutani calmly took Katsuya's chin between his thumb and fingers and forced it up, exposing the vulnerable column of flesh beneath.

"Should'a begged, pretty boy," the older gang member said with a remorseless snicker. "Should'a got on yer knees and sucked m'cock, but too late now."

He pressed the edge of the blade against Katsuya's throat.

_**blink**_

Katsuya gasped and scrambled partway across the tunnel before he realized his limbs were free. A quick check found his throat unharmed, although his trembling fingers traced over the thin, nearly invisible scar that Hirutani had put there years ago.

_**blink**_

The heavy chain dragged him down into the cold, darkening depths of the ocean. The salty water pressed in from all sides. All he could see were the air bubbles rising from his nose and mouth and all he could feel was the growing pressure that threatened to burst his inner ears.

Drowning. The word slipped through his mind but he pushed it away. It was a bad way to go, but as long as Yugi was safe and his own mind was free from the psychopath that had forced him to fight against his best friend, he was satisfied. Death wasn't something to be afraid of. It happened to everyone eventually, and Katsuya knew he should have died a hundred times over by now, and that the only reason he was alive at all was that he seemed to possess an extraordinary amount of luck. But even his luck would have to run out at some point.

The burning in his lungs increased and the edges of his vision began to fade to black.

_**blink**_

It took a second or two for Katsuya's brain to comprehend that he was in fact not sinking to the bottom of the ocean and to send signals to the rest of his body that it was _okay_ to inhale. He did so, breathing in deeply, his lungs still aching. He dragged himself over to the door and leaned back against the rough, splintery wood. There was no need to try opening it again – he'd attempted to do so multiple times already, in between hallucinations, but no matter how hard he kicked at it or tugged on the handle, it would not budge.

When his eyes became painfully dry, he closed them and placed his hands over his shut lids to prevent himself from accidentally opening them again. As long as he didn't blink, he was safe – at least, he hoped so.

"Nn," he whimpered and rested his forehead on his raised knees. Although the idea of it would have sent him into a fit of mirth in the past, he honestly missed Kaiba's company. What he wouldn't give right now to hear the rich prick call him a mutt or loser, as long as it meant that Katsuya wasn't alone. He wondered if Kaiba was safe and with Mokuba and everyone else now. Pushing Kaiba through the door had been one of the most difficult decisions he'd ever had to make, especially since he had a feeling that if he'd explained that it wasn't open for him, Kaiba would've refused to go and leave him. But he never was good at being selfish.

Katsuya tried to laugh, but it came out sounding more like a broken sob. "It's not fair…"

But then again, when had life ever been fair to him. Just look at what memories he was being forced to re-experience every time he opened his eyes now. It was like his life was flashing before him, except all the good things, the happy parts, were missing.

"My life wasn't all pain and misery!" he shouted hoarsely into the silence. There had been a lot of that, granted, but not so much that he wanted leave everything behind so soon. He was still young and had a lot of hope for the future.

Eyes squeezed shut, he strained to remember the brighter memories – the shining ones that he always kept locked safely away in his heart except to bring out and cherish during the bad times.

_Holding my baby sister in my arms for the first time._

_Fighting alongside Honda, knowing he'd always have my back._

_Being forgiven and accepted as a friend by Yugi._

_Dueling and realizing that I finally found something I'm good at and enjoy._

_Expanding my circle of friends to include Anzu, Otogi, Mai, Mokuba and even Kaiba._

_My dad checking himself into rehab and sobering up._

And more. So many more. He sat there and carefully went through every one, focusing on every detail and every separate emotion. After some time, warmth began to return to his body. It took him awhile to notice as he'd been freezing for what felt like ages, but the faint heat spread from his chest until even his fingers and toes began to thaw. He submerged himself deeper and deeper into his memories, reliving all of the joy, victories, gratitude, and love, and blocking out the dark, painful bits. At one point, it felt as though his friends were there, whispering in his ear.

'_Remember…? Hanging out at the arcade and burger joint after school…'_

'_Panty-tanking in the hallways until Anzu kicked our asses…'_

'_Winning your first duel… can you remember…?'_

Loneliness and fear of the darkness were washed away by the memories.

"I remember," Katsuya whispered with a small, trembling smile. "Miss you. Don't want it to end. I wanna go home."

Something still held him back, though. Some part of him remained tied to the darkness.

"Help me, _please_. Help me to go home."

'_Katsuya.'_

Katsuya gasped and, for the first time since finding himself alone on this side of the door, felt his eyes well up with tears. He hadn't expected to hear that low, confident voice ever again. Kaiba. It was Kaiba talking to him and calling him by his _first _name. What did that mean? Katsuya shook his head, wishing he could open his eyes and look for the source of the voice, but he knew it would be pointless anyway. Kaiba had gone through the door and now there was nobody but Katsuya here.

'_I am here, Katsuya. I'm still by your side.'_

"N-no, liar. Liar, I said g-goodbye."

There was no answer. As the silence stretched, Jounouchi began to panic. "Kaiba? Kaiba! S-Seto! I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

'…_the darkness? Whatever you did then, I want you to try it again.'_

"Wh-what?" He didn't know what Kaiba was talking about. There was nothing he could do, he was trapped here. It was already too late, wasn't it? "I don't understand!"

'_I'm right here. You're so close.'_

"Where? Where are you Kaiba? Kaiba? Seto! _Please_!" Katsuya shouted and pressed the palms of his hands hard against his eyes to keep the tears of frustration from leaking out. It was no use. What was he supposed to do? He didn't know where to begin. Kaiba said he was "right here", but what did that even mean? It wasn't as though Kaiba was standing here and all Katsuya had to do was reach out his hand…

The breath caught in Katsuya's throat when a sudden thought niggled at his brain. What he had done when he had been trapped and dying in the dark, before Seto managed to pull him out…

With a silent prayer to whatever gods might be listening, Katsuya took a deep breath and extended his right arm, reaching out both physically and mentally. In his mind's eye he pictured Kaiba standing there in front of him with that maddening smirk that never failed to both attract and piss off Katsuya at the same time. He reached and reached, but it felt like the harder he tried to grab hold, the farther away Kaiba was.

"I c-can't… It's impossible."

"_Giving up already, Mutt?_" Kaiba's voice taunted him.

Katsuya bit his bottom lip and shook his head. _No_. He _wasn't_ weak, he would show the rich bastard that he wasn't just some third-rate loser that ran when things got tough. Gathering up every last ounce of willpower, he mentally flung himself towards the waiting man.

The wood vanished from behind him and he was falling backwards into empty space. Wind whipped his clothing and hair but did nothing to slow his freefall. Katsuya hardly noticed, however, because he had finally closed the distance between Kaiba and himself. Kaiba's arms were around him and he was wrapped in the warmth and comforting scent of the tall man.

_I found you! Please, don't ever leave me again! Promise you won't!_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry about the super shortness of this chapter (and perhaps the mushy ending line haha), but I didn't want to drag it on too much! There are two more chapters coming that I'm labeling as Epilogues since they're just a bit of extra focusing on recovery and strengthening the Kaiba x Jou relationship!**


	9. Chapter 9 Epilogue Part 1

**Till Death Do Us Part**

Epilogue Part 1 (Jounouchi)

Rapid, incessant clicking pulled Katsuya out of a dreamless sleep and he halfway opened one eye to investigate the disturbance. He caught the blurry sight of his roommate sitting up in bed, busily typing on the laptop that was precariously balanced on his knees. A smile grew on Katsuya's lips and his eyelid dropped down again as he began to wriggle over to the other bed that was up against his own. There, he continued to move until he was able to curl himself around the other man. Pressing his face into the other's hip, he let out a contented noise and began to drowse again. The noisy typing only halted for as long as it took for the other to tug the blanket over Katsuya's shoulder and run quick, soothing fingers once through his tangled hair.

It had been a week and a half since Katsuya had come out of the coma and regained consciousness. He'd spent most of the following days sleeping, eating or doing light physical therapy to regain his strength. Never before had he felt so weak and exhausted. It was hard to believe that the entire time he'd been roaming the city in search of his friends, he had actually been lying in a hospital bed with them right there at his side. He still wasn't sure that he'd quite managed to wrap his head around that one. Fortunately, though, Kaiba was there when Katsuya had come to. Kaiba had been the one to explain everything and convince Katsuya that Yugi and the others were really and truly there, not just more figments of his imagination.

"Are you hungry? Lunch will be arriving soon, and I believe they're increasing your portion size today."

Katsuya wasn't sure what he mumbled in response to Kaiba's question. It didn't matter if he was hungry or not, they would guilt him into finishing everything on his plate for the much needed nutrition. Apparently he'd lost a lot of weight; Kaiba said he looked like a skeleton and that it was creepy. Not that Kaiba was much better – but then again, he'd always been a bit on the too-thin side. Katsuya grinned and snuggled against the warm body.

Kaiba had been conscious for a week longer than Katsuya and was further along in his recovery. Although he had been given the go ahead by the doctors to return home where his private doctor could continue to care for him, he'd surprised everyone by choosing to remain in the hospital, sharing a room and practically a bed with Katsuya. For that, Katsuya was thankful. He was terrified at the thought of having to sleep alone at night in the darkened room, sure that he would be pulled back into the frighteningly realistic hallucinations he'd experienced in the "other place". He knew those fears were unreasonable and would fade with time, but for now he was relieved that Kaiba hadn't abandoned him at the first opportunity.

As long as they were together, nothing could hurt them. After everything, that belief was firmly cemented in his mind.

The door to their hospital room creaked open and a nurse entered with their breakfasts. She didn't comment on the fact that, once again, Katsuya was in the wrong bed, but set their trays down with a smile, and left after verifying that no problems or complaints had developed overnight. Katsuya raised his head to peek at the food and saw that they had indeed given him more than the day before – not much, but enough to make him groan at the thought of forcing it all down.

"Since when did you, the renowned glutton, grumble at the sight of food?"

Katsuya gave Kaiba a dirty look and began to drag himself into a sitting position next to the other man. "Since m'stomach shrunk to a quarter of its original size," he said with a petulant frown, pulling the tray closer. He eyed the bowl of miso soup, the second bowl of fresh cut fruit, and the plate of buttered toast and cooked fish. It wasn't really that much – quite a bit less than he would have had for breakfast under normal circumstances – but he'd quickly learned after waking up just how much smaller his stomach had gotten. He picked up the pair of wooden chopsticks from the tray and dug them into the soft white rice. Although he hadn't felt hungry, the first bite jumpstarted his appetite and the rest of the food disappeared quite quickly.

"Hey, Seto," Katsuya said, half-heartedly picking at a few crumbs.

"Hm?"

_What did '_I like you'_ mean?_

"Nothin'." _Coward._

"Hn." A few minutes of key-tapping, and then, "I'll return to the mansion tomorrow."

Katsuya's head shot up at that. Wide-eyed, he stared at the apparently unaffected brunet. "What? Really? I, um, thought Mokuba was taking care of things all right."

Without lifting his eyes from the computer screen, Kaiba explained, "I am the CEO of Kaiba Corp., not Mokuba. It is my duty to ensure that reconstruction of the building is on schedule and that the usual tasks are continuing smoothly despite the temporary relocation."

"Oh… right." Biting his lip, Katsuya looked down at the food tray. Of course Kaiba couldn't stick around forever. He was the head of a company and had more important things to do than have Katsuya cling to him day in and day out. Katsuya sighed and shoved the tray table away so that he could crawl back to his own bed. He covered his legs with the sheet and stared up at the ceiling, contemplating whether or not he would be able to close his eyes after Kaiba was gone. It had taken him an entire day just to be able to blink without initiating a panic attack – going to sleep at night was even worse because of the lingering fear that he would slip back into a coma and wake up alone in the darkness.

The other bed creaked and then a cool hand slipped around Katsuya's wrist, fingers landing on his pulse. He wondered why Kaiba still felt the need to do that, but the brunet refused to explain it to him. He turned his head and met the other's gaze, wishing he could become lost in those ocean-blue eyes forever.

Kaiba was frowning, however. "Are you… okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Fine," Katsuya lied.

"I'll come back in the evening. You won't have to sleep alone."

"Huh? Wh-who said I was worried about that?" The other man's observational skills always astounded Katsuya. He didn't want to be in the way, however, or holding Kaiba back from whatever needed to be done. "Nah, don't worry 'bout it. I'll be fine."

"And in a few more days, you should be able to join me," Kaiba went on as though he hadn't heard Katsuya.

It took a moment to process that statement. "Um, what? Join you where?"

"My home. I would like you to stay for awhile with me and my brother, if you are willing."

"What!" Katsuya yelped, staring at the man as though he'd grown an extra head. "I can't stay with you!"

"Why not? There's more than enough space."

"That, no, that's not what I…" Katsuya spluttered. Then Kaiba's words really hit home. "So I'd go home with you? To your mansion? Like… like rent a room for a bit?"

The look Kaiba gave him made him feel stupider than he'd ever felt in his life. "No, not 'rent a room,' idiot; you'd be there as my guest. Seeing as you can't seem to stay off of my bed for long here in the hospital, you can stay in my room at home. That is… unless you'd prefer your own? There are certainly plenty available."

Katsuya _almost_ squealed in happiness, _almost_ threw himself into Kaiba's arms in pure glee, but found he could do neither as the burst of joy drained away at a sudden thought. Did Kaiba even know what it meant to share a room, a bed, with another person that wasn't family?

_That's it. It's pity. He knows I'm having trouble sleeping and feels it's his duty to keep me with him after I made him promise... We have become friends, but I doubt he'll ever see it as more than that._

"I… I'll think about it."

Kaiba gave him a long, unreadable look after that response. But all he said was, "Fine," in a clipped tone before letting go of Katsuya's wrist and sitting up. The computer noises soon filled the room again and Katsuya got the feeling that he had somehow hurt Kaiba's feelings.

He huffed and tugged the blanket over his head. The idea of moving in with Kaiba made him more than a bit giddy, but he was afraid that he might be expecting more out of it than the other man was. He knew _he_ was gay and attracted to Kaiba and that, although the brunet's personality could use some work, they seemed to be getting along quite well after their harrowing adventure together. But did Kaiba feel the same way or had he merely stopped seeing Katsuya as an annoyance?

'_I'm sorry. I like you.'_

"Dammit," Katsuya growled, hating the confusion and uncertainty that Kaiba's words had caused. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to put it out of his mind for awhile. There was no rush to make a decision yet. It could all wait to be sorted out when he was feeling better.

"Um, hello?"

Grateful for the distraction, Katsuya flung the blankets off his face and shot a welcoming grin at the doorway. "Yug'! Hey! Come on in."

Yugi smiled and walked over to Katsuya's bed. "Hi Jounouchi-kun. Hello Kaiba-kun."

Kaiba didn't even glance up or give any other any indication that he had heard the greeting. With a roll of his eyes, Katsuya said, "Don't worry 'bout him. He's in a _mood_." Which appeared to be his fault, but he didn't feel it was necessary to point fingers. "What's up?"

"I just thought I'd drop by to see how you're doing before I open up the shop for the day," Yugi said, perching himself on the edge of Katsuya's bed.

"I just saw you last night, Yug'. Not much has changed since then!"

_Aside from Kaiba asking me to sleep over with him_.

With a laugh, Yugi nodded in agreement. "Oh, right. Well, is there anything you want me to bring when I visit later today? Some new cards are supposed to arrive that I think you'll find interesting."

It was nice to sit there and chat with Yugi, who never failed to cheer him up. Not long ago, he'd thought he would never get another chance to see his friend's bright smile or listen to him expertly ramble on about Duel Monsters. To have come so close to losing everything that was dear to him made Katsuya all the more grateful that he had survived. He reached out to take hold of Yugi's arm and pulled the shorter man against him. Wrapping his arms around Yugi, Katsuya leaned down to rest his forehead against Yugi's shoulder, taking comfort in their closeness. Yugi responded by adjusting his position to lean into Katsuya, and continued to talk as though there was nothing strange about another grown man hugging him. They stayed like that until Yugi was forced to part for the game shop, which left Katsuya with a lonely feeling and a silent, grumpy Kaiba to deal with.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was his second day alone in the hospital, while Kaiba was off doing whatever it was he needed to do to help his company pick up the pieces from the damage the earthquake had done. The nurse had just left with the empty lunch tray and Katsuya was lying on his back with his hands tucked behind his head and his gaze fixed on the ceiling. The daytime shows on the small television, which he'd flipped through a bit earlier, hadn't been interesting in the least, with only quiz shows and dramas aimed at lonely housewives, and he didn't feel up to reading the novel that Yugi had brought him yesterday. The room felt too quiet without the noises of Kaiba on his laptop or his deep voice occasionally deigning to answer Katsuya's attempts at conversation. Now all that broke the silence was the footsteps or low voices of people passing by his door, but even that was infrequent enough to give the feeling that he was isolated from the rest of the world.

He continued to stare upwards, his eyes half open but unseeing, while he focused on breathing slowly and steadily. The panic attacks, four in all so far – three yesterday and one that morning – had thankfully been easy to keep a secret from everyone. The humiliation of others knowing would have been too much to bear. It wasn't the silence itself, exactly, that scared him, but the way it reminded him of the 'coma-place' where all of the people in Domino had vanished and left him to face darkness and nightmares. When he couldn't hear other people in the hallway outside, he couldn't help but fear that somehow he had slipped away into that place again.

_Don't think about it. You're out of there and safe now. There are people everywhere and your friends will be visiting you later and everything is fine. _

Twenty minutes had gone by without a sound and suddenly nothing he told himself was convincing. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The air was becoming thick again, causing his chest to tighten and lungs to ache. Gasping, Katsuya almost fell off the bed, but just managed to stay on his feet as he stumbled over to the window. He fumbled with the latch, cursing breathlessly until it unlocked and let him slide the frame up. A cool, refreshing breeze came in through the open space and Katsuya immediately stuck his head out to feel it more fully. He took deep lungfuls of fresh air while glancing desperately around until his eyes locked onto a mother and child walking across the parking lot. They were holding hands and the young girl was pointing at something in front of them. Katsuya stared at them, the proof that he was still in the real world, until they turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

With a weary sigh, Katsuya kneeled and rested his chin on the window sill. Breathing was easier now, at least, and his heart had slowed to a more comfortable pace, but he didn't feel up to lying back down in the too-silent room. More people passed by – some heading to their parked cars, others just arriving – and he watched it all with hungry eyes. He didn't know how long he knelt there for, but after some time a noise from behind alerted him to another's presence in the room.

"Jounouchi?"

Katsuya jerked away from the sill and tried to turn, only to find his legs had fallen asleep. He landed on his butt on the tiled floor and sat there rubbing at his legs while grinning sheepishly up at Mokuba, who somehow looked both concerned and amused at the same time.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Jus' gimme a sec." When the pins and needles faded from his calves, Katsuya crawled over to the bed and up onto it. He flopped onto his back and patted the mattress next to him. "Have a seat! I didn't expect to see you here this early. What about school?"

"Half day. There was nothing else to do, so I decided to see if you wanted some company," Mokuba explained, sitting down next to Katsuya. "What were you doing?"

"Nothin'. Just looking at the clouds."

"That bored, huh?"

Katsuya laughed and nodded. "Gods, yes. So bored. Who'd have thought I'd actually miss your brother being stuck all day in here with me." After he said that, he noticed Mokuba giving him a considering look and frowned. "What?"

"You and my brother grew pretty close while you were… away, didn't you?"

Katsuya blinked at the sudden change in topic and felt his cheeks heat a bit. "Um, guess so. Why?"

The smaller boy shifted to lie down on his side and propped his head up with one hand to face Katsuya. He seemed to be studying Katsuya's face with an intensity that reminded Katsuya that, emotionally, Mokuba was vastly more mature than other kids his age. Mokuba answered, "He's never invited someone to stay over before. At least, not since he was mind-crushed by Yugi's Yami."

"He… he _told_ you about inviting me?"

"Of course," Mokuba said, an implied '_d'uh_' in his tone. "Since I'm living there, too."

"But… Wait. Hold on. I'm the first he's asked to…? What about…" Friends? Family? No, this was Kaiba Kaiba they were talking about – the rich CEO whose only concerns were Kaiba Corp and his brother. He was too proud and arrogant to form close attachments with anybody who might be open to a friendship, as Yugi and the others had learned time and time again, and, as far as Katsuya was aware, Kaiba had no family beyond Mokuba. "Er… girls?"

"Girls? Really?" Mokuba snorted a laugh of amusement.

"What's so funny about that? Surely he's had a girlfriend or two in his life? Or a fling at the very least?"

The smile faded from the teen's face. "I've never seen him show that kind of interest in anybody and the few attempts I made to set him up failed miserably."

That was… sad. Katsuya couldn't imagine not having his friends there to support him or going out on a date once in a while, even if only to have a bit of fun and break the monotony of everyday life. No wonder Kaiba was so socially inept around Yugi and the gang.

"He tends to see most people as a threat," Mokuba continued, his voice wavering a little. "It's Gozaburo who taught him that the world is filled with enemies and to show any emotional attachment to others is a weakness that will allow them to destroy him. Because of that complete _bastard_, Seto can't see the strength that comes with friendship, and I can't help but worry that… that…"

"That what?" Katsuya asked softly. He watched the turmoil grow in Mokuba's expression and couldn't help but be disturbed by what he was hearing. He'd never really thought about _why_ Kaiba was the way he was and hadn't considered the idea that before Gozaburo, Kaiba might have been a normal kid.

"I won't always be here for him. One day I'll go away to university or get married and move out and then my brother will be all alone in his big, empty mansion."

Katsuya wondered if Kaiba had any idea how much his younger brother cared for and worried about him. "Maybe you don't give your brother enough credit," he suggested, "I mean, he got along alright without you while we were… uh, you know, in a coma. Okay, I guess technically you were around, but it felt like you weren't and he didn't self-destruct or anything."

"Right! Because you were with him," Mokuba said, perking up.

"Huh?"

"You seem to be the exception to the rule. He's been practically obsessed with you since high school and now he's invited you here—"

"Wait, back up." Katsuya pushed himself up to sit cross-legged on the bed. "What do you mean by _obsessed_?"

"I mean," Mokuba said, sitting up as well so that they were face-to-face again, "that aside from people he's planning to annihilate, he has never paid as much attention to anyone as he has to you."

"He _hated_ my guts in high school!"

"No, he _teased_ you, albeit in his own twisted, socially-stunted way. If he'd hated you, he'd have destroyed your life as soon as possible, and if he'd had no interest in you, he'd have pretended you didn't exist. I mean, I thought you were just another guy who had pissed him off too, at first, but then I noticed how your name started to pop up in at least one conversation we had _every single day_. It'd always be something you'd done that he'd supposedly taken offence to, and yet he never attempted to truly hurt you."

"He did plenty of crap to me!" Katsuya sputtered, not able to believe the nonsense the kid was trying to push on him. "The fights and… and the non-stop putting me down, and the duels."

Mokuba made a face like he thought Katsuya was being intentionally stupid. "Jounouchi, like I said, he was teasing you. If he'd really wanted to, he could have got you kicked out of school, had you or your father thrown in jail, or even hired someone to assassinate you."

"N-no way."

"Don't underestimate what my brother is capable of when it comes to making his enemies disappear."

Katsuya went pale when he realized that Mokuba was dead serious.

"I'm not sure what it is about you," Mokuba said with a pensive frown, "but I think Seto likes you. Not that he'd ever admit to it."

"He did, though," Katsuya blurted out without thinking. His entire face turned red when Mokuba's eyes widened in shock. "Erm, I mean, he said he l-liked me. In the coma place… i-it was raining and… I was upset and he…" He trailed off and scratched his nose in a lame attempt to hide his blush.

When Mokuba only continued to gape, Katsuya sighed and tried to explain a bit better, "It was just a spur of the moment thing, I'm sure. Probably didn't mean much. We were just stressed out from everything."

"Are… are you kidding?" Mokuba said in an awed tone. "What it would have cost him to… Seto never ever does anything spur of the moment. Oh my _god_, he actually _likes_ you."

Katsuya shook his head, trying to deny the ache that formed in his chest at the other's words. Even if Kaiba did like him, it would never be in the way that Katsuya wanted. According to Mokuba, the CEO had never had a relationship before and so there was extremely little chance that he'd want his first to be with Katsuya, of all people.

"It's such a relief," Mokuba was saying, "to know that he's not completely hopeless after all. You should talk to him more while you're at our place! Maybe we could all do some things together and… oh, you could even move in for good! Seto seems to want you to stay, doesn't he? If you moved in then… Jounouchi? Wh-what's wrong?"

"I… I can't. I c-can't do that."

It was impossible. He couldn't move into Kaiba's home when in reality they barely got along. Everything that had happened to bring them closer to understanding one another had been a big, fat lie – they had been unconscious, nothing had actually happened. How could he trust Kaiba's feelings and his own when it was all based on a dream they had inexplicably shared. And even worse, if he did stay, what would happen if he fell in love with Kaiba and the other man couldn't return his feelings? This tentative friendship that had grown between them would break in an instant and Katsuya didn't want that to happen. He'd rather leave on good terms then remain in the mansion and watch things fall apart.

"Don't you like my brother, too?"

"I…" Not knowing how to answer the simple question, Katsuya bit his lower lip and stared down at the wrinkled bed sheets. When Mokuba expelled a small gasp, Katsuya realized that his left hand was pressed against his chest, gripping the material of his shirt directly over his heart. He glanced up, saw Mokuba staring at it, and immediately let his hand drop. "Um… I…" He averted his eyes again in embarrassment.

"Oh, uh, there's still lots of time to consider it," Mokuba quickly said. "You shouldn't be thinking about stressful things right now anyway. Do you want to play some Duel Monsters? I brought my deck."

Grateful for the change of subject, Katsuya eagerly nodded and reached for the drawer that contained his own deck of cards. "Sure, yeah. A game sounds good."

As they prepared their decks and created a playing field, Katsuya's mind remained on the idea of staying over at the Kaiba mansion. He could do it for a little while, at least; just until things got back to normal. While he didn't exactly relish the idea of going back to the place where he'd ended up trapped in darkness, he felt that it might help with the nightmares to see for himself that the mansion was just a building and not the haunted place he remembered it being. Aside from that, he was bothered by the memory of what Kaiba had done when he'd returned to the hospital room last evening after being gone all day.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_The door opened at quarter-to-one in the morning, catching Katsuya's attention, and he turned away from the television in hopes that it wasn't just another nurse coming in to check on him. He wasn't disappointed when the tall brunet he'd been waiting for stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Katsuya's welcoming smile faded, however, at the sight of Kaiba's face. It was paler than usual and his features were so tight his face looked ready to crack apart. He stood there, unmoving, and only stared blankly at Katsuya._

_Nervous at the strange atmosphere, but relieved that the other man had come back as he'd promised to, Katsuya attempted another smile. "Seto? Did—" He cut himself off when Kaiba suddenly dropped his suitcase and approached Katsuya's bed in three long strides. The taller man stood over Katsuya, a frown marring his forehead, and it took everything Katsuya had not to reach out and touch him to convince himself that Kaiba was right there and real and not a hallucination. He'd just spent the first day without Kaiba since waking up and now all he wanted to do was hug the other tightly and never, ever let go again. _

_Almost like he'd read Katsuya's mind, Kaiba shrugged off his suit jacket and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Move," he ordered quietly, and even his voice sounded taut with stress and exhaustion._

_Katsuya immediately shifted over and watched Kaiba slip off his shoes and lie down on his back so that their sides were pressed together. The room was mostly dark with only the muted TV giving off a flickering glow. Katsuya used to remote to turn it off, then lay quietly while taking comfort in the sound of Kaiba's breathing and the feel of the other's shoulder and arm against him._

_His eyes were just beginning to droop when he felt Kaiba move and then cool fingers gently wrapped around his wrist. It was only when they landed on his pulse point that he finally understood what Kaiba was doing, and the thought sent an overwhelming flood of emotions into him that he couldn't even begin to sort through. _

'_Checking that I'm still alive…'_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Recalling the moment of his epiphany, Katsuya felt certain that Kaiba was just as affected by what had happened to them as he was. They were both afraid of the other disappearing. Maybe Kaiba wasn't asking Katsuya to move in with him out of pity, but because he needed and wanted him to.

Katsuya bit his thumbnail as he stared hard at his cards. He gently touched a finger to the Red Eyes Black Dragon that he'd been lucky enough to draw in his first hand, then nodded with determination.

_Okay then. I'll stay with him for a bit, but I won't expect anything out of it. I'll figure out what it is that Kaiba meant by '_I like you_' and then decide where to go from there. _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Since the last chapter was so short, thought I'd post this one right away! Part 2 (Seto's POV) will take a bit longer as I'm still fixing it up. Love the enthusiasm in most of the reviews, keep 'em coming if you're inclined ;)  
><strong>


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